Syrian Civil War 2011-2012 - Societa italiana di storia militare

June 2012
The first weekend of June witnessed the death of 80 security personnel throughout Syria. [114]
1 June - Friday of "Martyrs of Houla" Protesters took to the streets for weekly Friday protests with the largest protests occurring in
Aleppo, Damascus, Hama, Homs, idlib, Daraa, and the Deir Ezzor province. [115] 43 were killed by the Syrian army, including 13 in
the Damascus suburbs. [116] 13 people were killed in another mass execution by the Syrian army in Qusayr. The opposition reported 13
men were on their way to work at a state-owned fertilizer factory in Qusayr near the city of Homs when they came under fire. [117]
[full citation needed][118]
SOHR reports that 17 law enforcers were killed across the country in an explosion in Idlib, and clashes elsewhere.
Additionally, SANA reports that 22 security forces were 'laid to rest' (including: Retired Captain Taghreed Shahi Hamdan, First
Lieutenant Alaa Fayssal Jamous and Second Lieutenant Issam Nabih Abu Aqel.) [119]
2 June A total of 96 people were killed on Saturday according to SOHR. SOHR reported that the total number of civilian casualties
for the day was 33. [full citation needed][120] 2 army defectors were killed in Rastan and Homs. [full citation needed][120] A total of 61 soldiers killed
throughout the day in, predominantly, explosions; ambushes and clashes. Al Jazeera reported that Saturday was the worst day for
Syrian security forces since the start of the uprising [121] 29 people were killed by the Syrian army, including 12 in Homs. [122]
3 June By evening at least 42 people were killed by the Syrian army, primarily in Idlib and Homs. [123] At least 80 Syrian soldiers were
killed by the FSA over the weekend, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, citing local doctors, who confirmed this and their
names. [124] This was while the opposition Free Syrian army said that they had killed more than 100 soldiers and destroyed some tanks
over the weekend. [125]
4 June 42 people were killed by the Syrian army, including 16 in the Idlib province. [126]
5 June 51 people were killed by the Syrian army by evening, including 12 in Haffeh, Latakia. [127]
6 June Main article: Al-Qubair massacre 78 civilians were executed in a massacre by the Syrian army and Shabiha in the small
villages of Qubair and Maarzaf, Hama province, with 47 bodies identified so far. Over 140 people were killed across Syria, including
in the Qubair and Maarzaf massacres. [128][129] The village of Qubair is located directly east of Asilah and Abu Rubays. One Lebanese
man was killed and two-three were wounded in a gunfight with Syrian security forces while they were trying to infiltrate Syria across
the border from Lebanon at the town of Arsal. The soldiers were apparently waiting for the infiltrators to ambush them. The wounded
were reportedly missing after the incident. [130]
7 June Observers attempting to reach the site of the massacre in Qubair were shot at by government soldiers, and forced to turn
back. [131][dead link] 31 people were killed by the Syrian army, as reported by SOHR. 24 Syrian soldiers were killed by the FSA including
an assassination on a Major General (which also killed a military judge) in Dera'a. [118][132]
8 June - Friday of "Revolutionaries and Traders Hand in Hand" Fierce fighting between the FSA and Assad loyalists erupted in
central Damascus, as protesters took to the streets for weekly Friday protests. The largest protests occurred in Damascus, Aleppo,
Hama, the Idlib, Homs, Daraa, and Deir Ezzor provinces. At least 20 people were killed by the Syrian army by the evening. The
Syrian army continued heavy shelling on central Homs. [133][134] By the end of the day 65 people were killed by the Syrian army,
including 17 in the Idlib province. [135] UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the UN security council that heavy weapons, armorpiercing
bullets and surveillance drones have been used against UN observers in Syria to hamper their efforts to monitor the conflict,
and that these tactics had been used to try to force the unarmed monitors to withdraw from areas where government forces have been
accused of staging attacks. montiors also saw Syrian military convoys and tried to stop tank assaults against populated areas, but had
been "ignored". [136] British journalist Alex Thompson claims to have been set up in a death trap by members of the FSA who tried to
have him killed by members of the Syrian Army for propaganda purposes. [137] A video was leaked online, which puported to show
soldiers mocking the dead in a town in Idlib. They were shown to be piling corpses in a building, and blowing it up afterwards. [138]
9 June Activists said Syrian troops killed at least 17 people in the southern city of Daraa, including women and children. [139] The
Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees told that dozens of people were also
wounded in the shelling early on 9 June. [140][141] According to SANA, more than 150 soldiers, police officer and other law enforcement
members killed by rebels were buried during the week. [citation needed] By the end of the day the LCC reported 96 people killed by the
Syrian army, primarily in Daraa and Homs. [142] The SOHR reports that 84 were killed; 70 people were killed across the country
including 29 in Homs. Bombardment took place in Homs, Dera'a, Latakia and Idlib provinces. 13 rebel fighters died across the
country, including 10 in clashes in Homs province. A total of 28 Syrian soldiers were killed following clashes across the country. [143]
10 June By the end of the day LCC reports that 53 people were killed by the Syrian army, including 26 from shelling in Homs. [144]
SOHR reported that a total of 41 people were killed across the country. [145] At least 16 soldiers were killed across the country. [145]
Dozens of Kuwaitis were reported to have joined the FSA according to the Al-Qabas newspaper [146] The FSA reported that they
briefly took the al-Ghanto air-defense base north of Homs that held advanced surface-to-air missiles and anitaircraft vehicles. FSA
commanders described in a series of online videos the organized defection of soldiers and officers from the base and the subsequent
government attack that followed. The FSA claimed that they seized a number of weapons and ammunition, and that a large part of the
base and its arsenal of weapons were destroyed in bombing by government helicopters that were used to retake the air-defense
base. [147]
11 June United Nations monitors confirmed that Syrian army helicopters fired on towns near Homs, including Rastan. For the first
time, the UN also verified repeated allegations by activists that government forces fired from helicopters in the military crackdown on
dissent. Kofi Annan said he was "gravely concerned" at this news and a UN spokeswoman said that "artillery and mortar shelling,
machine guns and smaller arms" were being used against the towns of Rastan and Talbiseh. [148] The US said that it feared the Syrian
government was planning a "new massacre" in al-Heffa, where a battle had been taking place that had killed 68 soldiers, 29 civilians
and 23 rebel fighters. The city endured heavy shelling from the army. The FSA said that they moved civilians away from the city
centre to protect them, but even the outskirts were shelled eventually. [149] 109 people were killed by the Syrian army by the evening,
including 36 in Idlib, of which a dozen were summarily executed. [150] SOHR reports the total death toll of civilians as 80 (excluding 2
rebels included in the count by SOHR), including 25 in Idlib province and 9 civilians slain in a car bomb in Dera'a province. At least
7 rebel fighters with killed, including 2 during clashes in Homs. In addition, 23 soldiers and a Ba'ath Party official were slain across
the country. [151]