After shelling near Damascus HQ, the UN withdraws its staff from Syria - Polidicks

[quote](CNN) -- The United Nations is withdrawing international staffers from Syria for the time being after shelling near their living quarters, a spokesman said Monday. "Yesterday and today, a number of mortar shells fell in close proximity to, and on the grounds of, the hotel in Damascus housing U.N. staff," U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said. "The mortar fire caused some damage to the building and some cars, including one U.N. vehicle. The United Nations Security Management Team has assessed the situation and decided to temporarily reduce the presence of international staff in Damascus due to security conditions." Nesirky said the agency is "temporarily relocating some of the U.N. international staff in Syria out of the country." A U.N. diplomat who declined to be identified because he hadn't been authorized to speak on the matter said the number is half of its roughly 100 international staff members.[/quote] [url]http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/25/world/meast/syria-civil-war/index.html?hpt=wo_c2[/url]

Interesting. They must've been deliberately targeted. Or maybe not, since it was a hotel they were staying in, and not a designated building. [editline]25th March 2013[/editline] Not like the UN is of any use there, anyway.

[QUOTE=archangel125;40036801]Interesting. They must've been deliberately targeted. [editline]25th March 2013[/editline] Not like the UN is of any use there, anyway.[/QUOTE] How did you conclude they were deliberately attacked?

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;40036818]How did you conclude they were deliberately attacked?[/QUOTE] Changed my post. The UN may have been deliberately targeted if someone knew they were staying at that hotel. Mortars have a relatively short range, and while shells often go astray, they usually hit the general area they're aimed at.

Okay, let me reiterate after you've reiterated - Why do you think they were deliberately attacked at all? There's absolutely no evidence either which way and the article doesn't even say whose shelling it was from.

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;40036868]Okay, let me reiterate after you've reiterated - Why do you think they were deliberately attacked at all? There's absolutely no evidence either which way and the article doesn't even say whose shelling it was from.[/QUOTE] Okay. I think they'd be deliberately targeted by loyalist elements who want to scare them off because they don't want them there, keeping a close eye on things. They may also be targeted by rebel elements because their complete lack of involvement may be seen as complicity with the government. The man-portable mortar unit used by the Syrian military at the moment is the 82mm 82-BM-37, initially designed and used by the Soviet Union during WWII. While not as refined as more modern mortars, they're fairly effective and accurate. Their maximum effective range is roughly three kilometers. Now, unless the team firing the mortar had absolutely no idea what they were doing, it's quite likely the building and area in which the UN are residing was deliberately targeted, unless they were shooting at something else that was in the same area. Firing a mortar blindly is no good, and combatants on both sides know it. You get found pretty quickly.

This is assuming the Assad's army is the one doing the shelling. What if it was the rebels and have no idea what they're doing due to their inexperience with combat? [editline]25th March 2013[/editline] I just think you're reading a whole lot into not much.