THE COMMENTARY IN THIS PIECE DOES NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF IMPUNITY WATCH.
*WARNING VIDEOS MAY CONTAIN GRAPHIC IMAGES*
The Ramadan of Our Discontent!
Ramadan has begun on an inauspicious note for Assad and family, but rather than soften, their stances might harden even more, paving the way for more and deadlier massacres. Another Red Ramadan is upon us.
Friday July 20, 2012
Today’s Death toll: 215. The Breakdown: 55 in Damascus Suburbs, 28 in Aleppo, 28 in Idlib, 26 in Damascus City, 25 in Homs, 23 in Deir Ezzor, 20 in Daraa, 7 in Hama, 2 in Lattakia and 1 Sweida.
Cities & Towns Under Shelling: Harasta, Arbeen, Moadamiyah, Haran Al-Awameed, Zabadani, Madaya, Eltal, Dmeir, Hameh, Yelda, Rankous (Damascus Suburbs), Sit Zeinab, Al-Qadam, Modan, Al-Hajar Al-Aswad, Yarmouk, Kafar Sousseh, Mazzeh, Qaboun, Barzeh (Damascus City), Daraa City, Khirbet Al-Ghazaleh, Tafas, Maarabah, Bostra Al-Sham (Daraa), Rastan, Talbisseh, Houla, Tal Kalakh, Al-Qusayr, Al-Hosn, Old Homs (Homs Province), Hreitan, Elbab, Eizaz, Marei, Bayanoun (Aleppo Province), Haffeh, Jabal Al-Akrad (Lattakia), Deir Ezzor City, Mouhassan, Albou Kamal (Deir Ezzor Province), Kafar Zeiteh, Hawash (Hama Province), Jabal Al-Zawiyeh, Maar’at Al-Nouman, Sraqib (Idlib)
News
Op-Eds & Special Reports
The Syrian Army Strikes Back: Eyewitness to Assad’s Retaliation on a Rebel Town Saraqeb rejoiced when the heart of the regime was struck. Then the President’s soldiers hit back
Syria’s Next Act With the rebels moving deeper into Damascus, and the regime’s days appearing numbered, the CIA is racing to find Syria’s chemical and biological weapons before it’s too late.
Syria’s Alawite Refuge “It’s true that there aren’t the right ingredients for a state, but the Syrian coast is basically the center of gravity for the sect,” he says. “If the war continues in Syria, I’ll be among the supporters of separation. There is enough blood.”
Syria opposition has power struggles of its own As rebels risk their lives for a new government, some feel overshadowed by exiled dissidents, who the fighters say are out of touch with the real revolution.
The U.S. must help Syria Washington should work quickly in cooperation with our European allies to establish confidence and credibility in a national leader who is committed to democratic governance. We should put our shared diplomatic muscle behind credible parties with serious political and economic plans…
David Enders, special correspondent for McClatchy, based in Beirut, Lebanon, FDD fellows Ammar Abdulhamid, Syrian human rights and democracy activist and director of the Tharwa Foundation; John Hannah, former national security advisor to Vice President Cheney; and Reuel Marc Gerecht, former Iran analyst at the CIA’s Directorate of Operations.
General Highlights
Armed resistance groups in Northern Aleppo Province get unified under one command and one name, Al-Tawhid Brigade, then proceed to hold this impressive show of strength (July 18) http://youtu.be/v4F6dbRAO3k Northern Aleppo Province has now fallen almost completely under the control of the resistance. But the resistance cannot fend off against missiles and mortar rounds.
Local resistance groups in the town of Elbab, Aleppo Province, storm the local security headquarters: the slain we see here are pro-Assad militias (July 19)http://youtu.be/cNjWyjZsch8
While eyes are focused on Damascus City, many important developments have been taken place in Aleppo City, where larger rallies have taken place and the loyalties of many neighborhoods seem to have completely shifted to the protest movement. The showdown in Salaheddine Neighborhood on Friday underscores this. The story started with a rally as usualhttp://youtu.be/Lk1jvrQAI1A , http://youtu.be/sTJ7wcRPvPY ,http://youtu.be/60kFCqeoDhY , http://youtu.be/XHVG_mBc_XE and ended with clashes between local resistance units and pro-Assad militiashttp://youtu.be/D8XH5EVwX7c Culminating with the introduction in the neighborhoods for the first time http://youtu.be/pqQB5giTmdg And local Imams inviting their congregations to join the “Jihad” against Assad during their Friday sermons http://youtu.be/HUGUxGYYDuk Some of today’s martyrshttp://youtu.be/qyunV-aNG6g , http://youtu.be/4tPHlCwDV2U ,http://youtu.be/7jB_k_1qngo Protesters in Shaar Neighborhood also came under fire http://youtu.be/b1ZCn4ScNLE
Volunteers pour in the scores to Midan District to join the local resistance (July 19) http://youtu.be/Y7c0hyDX1qE In this interview with the local commander of the resistance in Midan, he claims that he commands over 4,000 troopshttp://youtu.be/GIMQGlThRdY But tanks lay siege to the neighborhoodhttp://youtu.be/jmgbk3bONJo And they begin poundinghttp://youtu.be/Aw98Sd72sWM , http://youtu.be/JNZM1sNrDYg ,http://youtu.be/0WIkCK0_aTA Many fighters were forced to withdraw, but many remain trapped inside.
Resistance units from Daraa heads towards Damascus Cityhttp://youtu.be/IB6xJ5_uFNk
In Homs City, protesters in Al-Malaab sang a traditional Damascene song in honor and support of their Damascene colleagues currently under pounding by pro-Assad militias http://youtu.be/9dYbqxlCDQM
Damascus Highlights
Black Smoke rises over Damascus City http://youtu.be/7mFZZdWSA48 And over parts of the Mazzeh Neighborhood, one of the plushest Districts in Damascus where many embassies are located http://youtu.be/wPd-oZQ7LMI
But it was the neighborhood of Sit Zainab that seems to have received the bulk of pounding today http://youtu.be/Uu_sWobAz1E , http://youtu.be/5B5gjuRhleI ,http://youtu.be/fLnBo66_i5E , http://youtu.be/aJVve1MyDmY The pounding was done mostly by helicopter gunships http://youtu.be/1i3RkplngBI Pulling the wounded and the dead from under the rubble http://youtu.be/nDa5XyhAoaA ,http://youtu.be/rOasidZFCIg
Protesters in Khalid Bin Al-Walid Street hold a rally near the local police stationhttp://youtu.be/mFqxuscm07A They soon come under heavy gunfirehttp://youtu.be/cD8n12q_bnw Many were killed and injured, here we see two bodies lying in the street http://youtu.be/qQ_XnEKnkcw This is another take of the rally and the shooting http://youtu.be/0st1oXDvw3A ,http://youtu.be/2Uo8dChRO64 Local activists report that the wounded who were taking to the nearby hospital of Al-Mojtahed were soon arrested by loyalist security officers and transported to an unknown location. The bodies of the martyrs were also taken. Many doctors were arrested for providing medical assistance to the injured. Some of the Martyrs http://youtu.be/w68W-HRC4XI ,http://youtu.be/yth9B2HVD50 , http://youtu.be/1GL4chxms6c A child among the dead http://youtu.be/2NvQW7Eo8hk
Treating the wounded in Barzeh http://youtu.be/l5GDYTBdDXM Taking over the local police station in Tadamon (July 19) http://youtu.be/cjXSODQivnU
Massacres took place in Qaboun http://youtu.be/n76QQV7Ytt4 ,http://youtu.be/Rc7XDqUi8es And Al-Qadam http://youtu.be/S0FXiFycK3c
Boyadah and other Damascene suburb were subjected to pounding by helicopter gunships http://youtu.be/gZfdJcNeNd4
The town of Dmeir, the pounding claimed many dead: a dead lies in amidst the rubble in the aftermath of an attack http://youtu.be/5z0Ji0vzD8E The martyrs of today’s pounding http://youtu.be/dZEueI6LDLs
In Harran Al-Awameed, Eastern Ghoutah, local inhabitants found bodies belonging to people who seem to have been tortured and burnt alive by pro-Assad militias http://youtu.be/TOJSyPVXN28 IN Arbeen many were killed in today’s pounding as well http://youtu.be/YVVL10U9tQU
Other Highlights
The pounding in Tafas, Daraa Province, leaves many children deadhttp://youtu.be/mLGvHqEmJQ0 , http://youtu.be/k4_uifq7UZM ,http://youtu.be/MhhAwYu91g8 The mass funeral http://youtu.be/xeWSpEr0dzM
The pounding in Rastan, Homs Province, leaves many dead and woundedhttp://youtu.be/P_lWvECCCl0 , http://youtu.be/M7in0FnTXxs
The pounding of Albou Kamal claims a heavy toll http://youtu.be/uk7udUZFvuo
The sounds of pounding of Jabal Al-Akrad, Lattakia Province http://youtu.be/pf-yif6FGwM
Protesters in Tabaqa City, Raqqah Province, came under fire http://youtu.be/-qBLqBhQNYI
