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

3 August Following increased violence in the preceding days, the United Nations Security Council for the first time condemned the
human rights violations against the Syrian protesters. [144] 45 people were killed in Hama on 3 August. [145]
4 August Assad issued a decree authorizing the formation of multiple political parties in Syria, as well as election reforms aimed at
pleasing protesters. [146][147] Even as he did this, the Hama crackdown intensified, leaving now over 200 dead in Hama since 31 July.
Hama is now enduring a widespread power outage as well as a blockade of basic food and medical supplies. The Syrian opposition
intends for another Friday of mass protests dubbed "The Friday of God is with Us". [148][149]
5 August – "Friday of 'God is With Us'" Mass protests occurred for Friday protests, including 30,000 in Deir Ezzour. Hama was
totally suppressed, making it difficult for people to rally there. Citizens in Qamishli, Aleppo, Deraa, Homs, suburban and central
Damascus went out to protest in solidarity with Hama. 24 civilians were killed by security forces, including 5 in Damascus. [150]
6 August The Syrian army entered Homs and Deir Ezzour with tanks in an attempt to stop people from rallying. [151] Turkey said it
would send its foreign minister to Damascus to present the Turkish government's demands for an end to the crackdown, while the
Gulf Co-operation Council condemned the violence in a joint statement by GCC member states. United Nations Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon also condemned the violence. [152]
7 August Over 70 people were killed in Syria, according to local human rights groups. Over 50 were killed in Deir Ezzour alone.
Dozens were arrested, and use of mortars and tanks to shell neighborhoods was also reported. The Arab League condemned the
actions of the Syrian government for the first time. [152]
8 August Just after midnight, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia gave a televised address condemning the Syrian government over the
crackdown. The king also said Saudi Arabia was recalling its ambassador to Syria. He warned Assad to enact major reforms or else
Syria "will be pulled down into the depths of turmoil and loss". [153] Kuwait and later Bahrain also recalled their ambassadors and said
a GCC summit would be held soon to determine a unified course of action for responding to the events in Syria. [154] A mother and her
two children were killed in Deir ez-Zor by Syrian troops storming the city during the predawn adhān, according to the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights. [155] The attack on Deir ez-Zor reportedly continued until noon. Soldiers also entered Maarat an-
Numan in northern Syria from the east and quickly cordoned off the city, preventing anyone from entering or exiting, a local
opposition committee said in a statement. [156] Seven people attending a funeral in Daraa were also reported killed when security forces
attacked the procession, leaving dozens more injured. The deadly incident prompted late-night protests in the city, with demonstrators
saying they held police responsible for the violence. [157] The head of the Arab Organization for Human Rights claimed 24 people were
killed throughout the country during the day, [158] while UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Oscar Fernandez-Taranco
said 87 civilians were killed by Syrian forces. [159] The online group Anonymous defaced the Syrian Ministry of Defense website with
a message urging members of the Syrian Army to defect and expressing solidarity with the protesters. [155] President Assad sacked
Defense Minister Ali Habib Mahmud and replaced him with General Dawoud Rajiha, the Syrian Army's chief of staff, due to Ali
Habib Mahmud's declining health. [154]
9 August An opposition group reported Syrian forces were attacking Sarmin, a town in Idlib Governorate, at dawn from three sides,
conducting raids and arresting residents. Tanks were said to be deployed in and around Idlib, the provincial capital. The siege of Deir
ez-Zor continued, with tank shelling reported in the al-Hawiqa district, and at least 15 deaths were reported in the city, along with two
more elsewhere in Idlib Governorate. There were also sketchy reports of military operations near Al-Bu-Kamal, close to the Iraqi
border. [160] Five were reported killed in Hama, including two children from the same family. [161] Syrian troops also assaulted Binnish
in an apparent reprisal for large-scale "night rallies after Ramadan prayers", according to a local resident, leaving four villagers
reported dead. [162] Opposition websites claimed that former Syrian defense minister Ali Habib Mahmud was found dead in his home.
A spokesman for the Syrian government initially claimed he had died of "a disease", while the opposition accused the Syrian
government of executing him. According to the opposition, Ali Habib started refusing to send in the army into cities because he feared
increasing defections, and for that he was killed. [163][164] However, he appeared on Syrian state TV hours after his supposed death to
deny that he was fired or killed, saying he resigned due to illness. [165] Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu met with President
Bashar al-Assad for over two hours and spoke with other Syrian officials for four more hours in total before departing Syria without
making a statement. Assad reportedly told Davutoğlu during the meeting that his government "will not relent in pursuing the terrorist
groups in order to protect the stability of the country and the security of the citizens" but said he was still committed to making
reforms. [166] Upon returning to Turkey, Davutoğlu said his government will continue relations with Damascus, but said he had urged
Assad to take "concrete steps" to end the violence without answering whether Assad had agreed to do so. [167] Meanwhile, Egypt
sharply criticized the Syrian government for promising reforms while continuing violence, with Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel
Amr calling such reforms "of no use". Amr demanded an end to the crackdown and said Assad and the Syrian populace should engage
in a comprehensive national dialogue. [168] In a retaliatory cyberattack for the hacking of the Ministry of Defence website, a website set
up by Anonymous was hacked by supporters of the Syrian government, who placed photos of burned bodies and a message claiming
the victims were Syrian soldiers and civilians killed by members of the Muslim Brotherhood on the page. [169]
10 August The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed one dead and 13 wounded by army operations, backed by one dozen
armoured vehicles, in the northwestern towns of Sarmin and Taftanaz. Meanwhile, the military appeared to conclude the siege of
Hama, withdrawing 40 APCs loaded with cheering soldiers from the city centre, according to a journalist on a government-organised
tour. [162] Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan lauded the withdrawal and media access, both of which Davutoğlu had urged
the previous day, as "a sign that our initiative is producing results". [170] However, later in the day the Syrian government decided to
put tanks back into Hama, and canceled the withdrawal. [171] The government also announced its withdrawal from Ariha. [172] Seventeen
people were killed and 20 more injured by Syrian troops in Homs after the army opened fire on protesters, activists told the Agence
France-Presse by telephone. [173] Syrian Ambassador to the United Nations Bashar Jaafari compared the situation in Syria to the
ongoing English riots and said that just as in the United Kingdom and other countries, the Syrian government was democratically
elected and not a "regime". The UK's representative sharply rebuked Jaafari's argument, saying, "In Syria, you have a situation where
thousands of unarmed civilians are being attacked and many of them killed. That comparison made by the Syrian ambassador is
ludicrous." [174] In a step The New York Times deemed previously unthinkable, 41 former Ba'ath and current government officials
announced an initiative for political transition, and urged an end to the military crackdown on protestors. They were led by
Mohammed Salman, a former minister of information with intimate ties to the Assads. [175]
11 August A resident of Saraqeb, a town near the Turkish border, reported that over 60 vehicles, about 14 of which were reportedly
tanks or APCs, entered the town. According to the report, Syrian soldiers began firing randomly and detaining residents en masse.