Snipers rule the streets in the besieged Syrian city of Homs
50 replies, posted
[QUOTE]Homs, Syria (CNN) -- For months, the Syrian city of Homs has been the focus of opposition to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, with almost daily protests since the summer.
More recently, defectors from the military have begun organizing armed resistance. Meanwhile, government forces have tightened their siege of rebellious neighborhoods that are now under the control of the opposition.
[B]A freelance journalist and filmmaker -- who is not named for his own security -- has just left Homs, and over the next few days CNN will be showcasing his remarkable stories from the front lines of a city at war.[/B]
Among the bullet-scarred walls of neighborhoods under siege, he encountered the government snipers who prowl the city picking off their victims apparently indiscriminately and at will.
[B]He found snipers stationed on almost every main street, manning checkpoints on both sides and firing at anybody crossing the street between 4 p.m. and 8 a.m. the next day -- imposing a kind of unofficial curfew.[/B]
[B]He spoke to one woman whose daughter was seven months pregnant when she was shot in the head as she tried to venture out of the house to do some shopping.[/B] The snipers kept shooting as relatives tried to reach the pregnant woman where she lay dead in the street, before finally they were able to bring her body back to her mother's home.
To film what was going on, the journalist too had to risk his life on the streets of Homs, with about 1 million inhabitants the country's third-largest city.
[B]"I had to cross several times exactly the same streets where people got shot several minutes before[/B]. And you arrive at a scene where half an hour ago someone got shot and 30 minutes later people are crossing the street normally," he said.
"Me crossing the street, I was feeling literally that the sniper is aiming at me and it is up to him if he is going to pull the trigger or not."
Residents describe the daily struggle of life in the cross-hairs, some telling how they throw bread and other supplies across the street to others who cannot safely traverse to reach a shop.
A monitoring mission from the Arab League arrived in the city Tuesday but opposition activists fear they will not see the full extent of a brutal government crackdown that the United Nations says has claimed more than 5,000 lives nationwide.
Despite the days-long military siege, thousands turned out for anti-government demonstrations as the Arab League team entered the city.
The fact-finding team is monitoring an Arab League initiative that calls for Al-Assad's security forces to withdraw from cities, release detainees and end violence.
But from what he has seen in Homs, the journalist thinks the point of no return has already been reached. So many people have been killed already that those going out to protest don't believe the authorities would let them live even if they stayed at home, he said.
His is a rare insight into the realities of the situation in Homs. The Syrian government has limited journalists' access to the country since its crackdown on protests began, making it impossible to verify many reports. Most information has come from activist groups seeking to keep the world informed of the ongoing violence. [B]They put the death toll at more than 6,000.[/B]
The unrest began in March when protesters, emboldened by democracy movements in Tunisia and Egypt, called for open elections and an increase in political freedoms, and demanded an end to brutal regime actions.
The movement quickly spiraled into a call for the ouster of al-Assad, and the regime cracked down on peaceful demonstrators. The government says it is combating "armed terrorist groups."[/QUOTE]
Source: [url]http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/28/world/meast/syria-homs-scene/index.html?hpt=hp_bn2[/url]
I saw this on the news. It's pretty crazy. People were having to transport things by throwing them across the street to others. One guy threw a couple cartons of cigarettes that fell short and people had to stick a piece of wood out in the street to retrieve them. It would suck to live under that kind of stress, at least if you always need to cross that street.
Syrian snipers will shoot you in the dick. They also shoot you if you aim a camera at them
Dayum, Syria don't play. They must've taken notes from the other toppled regimes.
Edit: I wasn't tryna be funny though. :shrug:
Jesus Christ, the Middle East may feel like it's falling apart at the hinges, but for some reason this feels like "business as usual".
[QUOTE=ewitwins;34027677]Jesus Christ, the Middle East may feel like it's falling apart at the hinges, but for some reason this feels like "business as usual".[/QUOTE]
it fell apart a long time ago. just no one was really looking at it till the recent wars.
I can't even wrap my mind around how the people they have as snipers could bring themselves to do that to their own countrymen, shooting a fucking pregnant woman and children? Just goes to show how awful and backwards the middle-east really is.
[QUOTE=StormHammer;34027888]I can't even wrap my mind around how the people they have as snipers could bring themselves to do that to their own countrymen, shooting a fucking pregnant woman and children? Just goes to show how awful and backwards the middle-east really is.[/QUOTE]
This could happen in any nation experiencing a civil war.
Ireland had similar cases.
Just because their Arab does not mean they're barbarians.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;34027898]This could happen in any nation experiencing a civil war.
Ireland had similar cases.
Just because their Arab does not mean they're barbarians.[/QUOTE]
they are not barbarians, they are obviously terrorist duh.
apparently people don't get sarcasm
Just wait till those Spies come in to backstab them
One can only hope a few of the stupid motherfuckers walk too far outside their safe zones and get their skulls bashed in.
[QUOTE=Xenocidebot;34027989]One can only hope a few of the stupid motherfuckers walk too far outside their safe zones and get their skulls bashed in.[/QUOTE]
Your rage is running in the wrong direction.
This is disturbing. A country is in civil war and I hardly see any news reports on it on the national or international news. The only station I've seen reports about Syria is on SBS.
[QUOTE=Eluveitie;34028222]This is disturbing. A country is in civil war and I hardly see any news reports on it on the national or international news. The only station I've seen reports about Syria is on SBS.[/QUOTE]
Reasons for that are as follow:
1) The Syrian government has heavily suppressed all journalism in their country
2) The rebel forces are disorganized and not united like Libya
3) There is no international forces aiding anti-government forces and so the rule of thumb is - if we're not in it, no one cares
Well I say in the few months the rebellion will fizzle out in a few months, the Syrian Baathists have too much control and support to be toppled without another NATO regime change, hopefully if they try to pull that again Russia/China will stop them.
I'm going to be Captain Obvious here and once again state that the reason we aren't helping is because they don't have any oil.
We promote peace and freedom, as long as there's resources in it for us. Anyone else can just go and die in a feeble rebellion.
I hate western government.
[QUOTE=BananaFoam;34028680]I'm going to be Captain Obvious here and once again state that the reason we aren't helping is because they don't have any oil.
We promote peace and freedom, as long as there's resources in it for us. Anyone else can just go and die in a feeble rebellion.
I hate western government.[/QUOTE]
It might also have to do with the fact that Syria has actual military, China and Russia will block any measures like those and the majority of the population supports the loyalists.
[QUOTE=Ale994145;34028710]It might also have to do with the fact that Syria has actual military, China and Russia will block any measures like those and the majority of the population supports the loyalists.[/QUOTE]
Libya had an army too. Until NATO wrecked it.
The US, and most of the NATO countries just don't have a reason to get involved with Syria. It's just another shit storm that most countries aren't willing to deal with. Which sucks, because this shit has been going on there for a while. I remember a video popping up here with protestors who had been hit lying in the streets waiting for help.
[QUOTE=StormHammer;34027888]I can't even wrap my mind around how the people they have as snipers could bring themselves to do that to their own countrymen, shooting a fucking pregnant woman and children? Just goes to show how awful and backwards the middle-east really is.[/QUOTE]
Hey what the fuck, take a look at Jordan before you say that kind of stuff.
That's where my half of my arabic part comes from. It's a civilized country.
Why can't we all get along?
[QUOTE=Swagger420;34029484]Why can't we all get along?[/QUOTE]
We're humans, that's why, no matter what we'll always have our differences.
[QUOTE=jrj996;34029464]Hey what the fuck, take a look at Jordan before you say that kind of stuff.
That's where my half of my arabic part comes from. It's a civilized country.[/QUOTE]And horrible people exist all over the world, not just the Middle East.
[QUOTE=JohnStamosFan;34028951]Libya had an army too. Until NATO wrecked it.
The US, and most of the NATO countries just don't have a reason to get involved with Syria. It's just another shit storm that most countries aren't willing to deal with. Which sucks, because this shit has been going on there for a while. I remember a video popping up here with protestors who had been hit lying in the streets waiting for help.[/QUOTE]
No Libya had a shitty militia with around 20'000 troops, Syria has a trained fighting force in the 100'000 with a actual air defense network and air capabilities, it NATO tried to pull another illegal regime change the losses would be very high.
[sp]inb4 "Fuckin' Campers"[/sp]
The Arabs countries really need to crack down on Syria. It's relatively weak without support from its neighbours.
Wow. They seem to be operating on bank hours and taking it very seriously.
[QUOTE=Ale994145;34029754]No Libya had a shitty militia with around 20'000 troops, Syria has a trained fighting force in the 100'000 with a actual air defense network and air capabilities, it NATO tried to pull another illegal regime change the losses would be very high.[/QUOTE]
Do they actually have any real air capabilities?
Last i read they were "hoping" to improve their situation by getting some new air defense systems from Russia, and were looking forward to purchasing the MiG-29 to improve their air force.
I think this may be like the North Korean situation, where their piece of shit army gets over hyped.
But i could be wrong.
So they're allowed to walk down the pavement, but not actually cross the roads?
(Sorry if I misinterpreted it.)
Goddamn, [B][I]someone[/I][/B] need to intervene. People are so concerned about Iran maybe having nuclear weapons and will take action about it, but won't help a the people in a country where the government is slaughtering their own citizens.
They're practicing quick-scoping because they can't do it on xbox.
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