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muriel_volestrangler

(101,161 posts)
Sun Aug 26, 2012, 05:15 AM Aug 2012

Syria: '200 bodies' found in town near Damascus

Source: The Guardian

Syrian opposition activists accused President Bashar al-Assad's forces of committing a massacre of scores of people in a town close to the capital that the army had just retaken from rebels.

More than 200 bodies were found in houses and basements around Daraya, a working-class Sunni town to the southwest of Damascus, according to activists who said most had been killed "execution-style" by troops on house-to-house raids.

Due to restrictions on non-state media in Syria, it was impossible to independently verify the accounts.

"Assad's army has committed a massacre in Daraya," said Abu Kinan, an activist in the town, using an alias to protect himself from reprisals.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/26/syria-middleeast?newsfeed=true

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Syria: '200 bodies' found in town near Damascus (Original Post) muriel_volestrangler Aug 2012 OP
Lovely. UnrepentantLiberal Aug 2012 #1
Such a wonderful world we live in, aye? octothorpe Aug 2012 #2
Syrian opposition activists say lots of things. Some might even be true. Comrade Grumpy Aug 2012 #3
I saw that footage. There is a lot of good footage on Addounia. David__77 Aug 2012 #4
Video footage. Warning: graphic. David__77 Aug 2012 #5
Post removed Post removed Aug 2012 #6
Horrible. LeftishBrit Aug 2012 #7

octothorpe

(962 posts)
2. Such a wonderful world we live in, aye?
Sun Aug 26, 2012, 10:46 AM
Aug 2012

Although, I suppose shit like this happens on a much larger scale in Africa, but we don't hear about it as much since there isn't much political gains to be had there.

 

Comrade Grumpy

(13,184 posts)
3. Syrian opposition activists say lots of things. Some might even be true.
Sun Aug 26, 2012, 02:02 PM
Aug 2012

I don't think the Assad regime is above committing war crimes, but...

This is a town where there has been active fighting for days. I saw scenes of lots of bodies in a mosque, but I think this is where people bring the dead and injured. The reporter was careful to say it appeared many had died elsehwhere and been brought there. Most appeared to be adult males.

There is no mention of how many of those killed were FSA fighters. It seems quite amazing that the FSA and the Syrian army are at war, but no FSA gets killed, only civilians.

I saw one scene from a private pro-government TV network that showed a wounded old woman in a graveyard. She didn't know who shot her, but her husband was with the security forces, and now he's missing.

The pattern is clear here, even if the exact nature of the killing is not: The FSA takes over a town or neighborhood, those residents who can flee do so, the Syrian army beats the shit out of the neighborhood, the FSA fades away, and the area is left a smoldering ruin. If I were a Syrian, I'm not so sure I would want my neighborhood "liberated" by the FSA.

David__77

(23,220 posts)
4. I saw that footage. There is a lot of good footage on Addounia.
Sun Aug 26, 2012, 04:19 PM
Aug 2012

On government TV too. They have a lot of reporters traveling with the military. Of course, this is just as problematic as US "embedded media" in Iraq, but it's better than nothing.

Insurgents captured several media workers who were later freed by the army.

David__77

(23,220 posts)
5. Video footage. Warning: graphic.
Sun Aug 26, 2012, 08:42 PM
Aug 2012
&list=UU4_vN2NdXotfsb8NdQY1Bkw&index=2&feature=plcp&oref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fuser%2FaddouniaEnglish

This is video for addounia television relating to the deaths in that area. It has an anti-insurgent editorial standpoint for sure.

Response to muriel_volestrangler (Original post)

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