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

September 2011
1 September The attorney general of Hama resigned, citing the brutality of the Bashar al-Assad regime as his reason, particularly the
alleged execution of 72 political prisoners in Hama Central Prison on 31 July. [4] According to the Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights, Syrian Army elements laid siege to Douma, a Damascus suburb, and killed a man in the central city of Homs. It claimed 360
civilians and 113 security officers were killed during the Ramadan crackdown of the previous month. Syrian troops reportedly
conducted house-to-house searches in Hama. [5] Security forces killed at least 7 more people in Syria, activists said, urging new antiregime
protests on Friday under the banner of Friday of death rather than humiliation.
2 September – "Friday of Death Rather Than Humiliation" Thousands of people protested against the regime across Syria.
Activists said the death toll on the first Friday of protests after Ramadan was at least 20, [6] with Syrian soldiers reportedly firing live
rounds at demonstrators in Homs and suburban Damascus. Activists said tanks surrounded the central square of Ma'arrat al-Numan,
trapping protesters inside while soldiers moved in. The opposition Local Co-ordination Committees claimed that Syrian soldiers had
stormed at least two hospitals in the suburbs of Damascus, shooting off their guns as they attempted to recover the bodies of dead and
wounded protesters. [7] Anti-government activists also rallied outside of the home of the former attorney general of Hama, Adnan
Bakkour. The Syrian Arab News Agency, the state-run media organ, claimed two "terrorists" had confessed to supplying doctored
propaganda videos to Al Jazeera. The government of France announced it was establishing contacts within the Syrian opposition. [8]
The European Union also adopted a ban on importing Syrian oil, which legally goes into effect on 3 September, but according to an
Italian official the ban will have minimal effect before 30 November 2011, as most contracts are set to expire then. [9]
3 September Al-Arabiya television reported on Saturday that Syrian security forces killed 6 civilians across the country. Activists
told-Al Arabiya the Syrian army's fighter jets flew over Houla and Rastan in near Homs to terrify local residents. There were also
reports that the Syrian army were deployed in Banyas and raided Tal Kalakh and regions of Deir az-Zour. Al-Arabiya also reported
that several protests broke out in the country, adding that “thousands participated in the funeral of martyrs of Arabin, near
Damascus.” [10]
4 September Syrian activists said at least 13 people have been killed by the Syrian army during protests. The reported deaths came as
the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was due to meet with senior Syrian officials in the capital,
Damascus. Eight of the deaths occurred in the Idlib province in the country's northwestern area, the Local Co-ordination Committees
(LCC) said. [11] State-run media claimed 5 soldiers, one army officer, and 3 civilians were killed when "terrorists" attacked a military
bus in Moharda in the morning. The report said 3 of the "terrorists" were killed in a shootout, while one loyalist soldier and another
gunman were injured. [12]
6 September Activists stated that Syrian security forces had killed 2 people as armoured vehicles came through the streets. 2
mechanics were killed at their workplace in the town of al-Restan near Homs, the Local Coordination Committee said. City residents
were hiding in homes and offices to escape the gunfire, while armoured vehicles were "shooting toward anything moving," the LCC
said, citing witnesses on the ground. Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary-general, made his strongest remarks yet on the
crackdown under way against Syrian anti-government protesters. Ban Ki-moon condemned the violence, which he said was being
committed by President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Ban called on Assad to take "bold and decisive measures before it's too late". "It's
already too late, in fact," Ban said in New Zealand, where he was attending a meeting of Pacific leaders. "If it takes more and more
days, then more people will be killed.", he went on to say. Ban also stated that it was time for United Nation members to unite and
take "coherent measures". [13] Aleppo also witnessed a major demonstration after the sudden death of prominent Aleppine scholar and
regime critic Ibrahim Salqini, though state-run media claimed he died of a heart attack. Tens thousands of people attended his funeral
march and chanted against the government, invoking revolutionary slogans such as "better death than humiliation", before security
forces reportedly fired on them as they entered the city cemetery. [14]
7 September Citing "circumstances beyond our control", the Syrian government abruptly canceled Arab League Secretary-General
Naril Elaraby's scheduled visit to Damascus. Elaraby's office confirmed that the visit had been indefinitely postponed. [14] At least 34
people were reported dead by Syrian activists in a tank assault on Homs that also involved about 20 truckloads of soldiers armed with
live ammunition. Two more were reportedly killed in Sarmin, while one was killed in Hama. State-run media claimed two Baath Party
officials were abducted by "terrorists" near Al-Rastan. [15] Activists and locals reported that heavy machine-gun fire was heard in the
Bab Dreib and Bostan Diwan neighbourhoods of Homs in the evening after at least 2,000 protesters marched toward the area from the
Bab Tadmor district. [15] Activists claimed the city was facing an especially vigorous assault due to a recent spate of defections, with
one activist saying about 40 soldiers in Homs defected after refusing to fire on protesters. [16]
8 September Military vehicles rolled into the village of Ibleen just after dawn in pursuit of defected soldiers, between three and five
of whom were killed in the raid, according to a resident. Another resident told international media that five children under the age of
10 were among roughly a dozen villagers detained by troops in Ibleen. [17] SANA reported that six security officers were killed and
three more wounded in the operation, which it characterised as a raid to target "armed terrorist groups" and seize stockpiles of
weapons. [18] In Homs, the army reportedly pelted the city with a heavy artillery barrage. Activists said areas where soldiers had been
known to have defected were being targeted. At least 23 people were killed, residents told international media. [19] The Syrian
opposition plan new mass Friday demonstrations, this time under the banner of "Friday of International Protection", referring to their
campaign to get UN observers to monitor violence inside Syria, as a way to pressure the Syrian government. [20]
9 September – "Friday of International Protection" Syrians protested across the country, calling for international help to stop the
crackdown. Large protests called "Friday for International Protection" were reported in cities including Qamishli in the northeast,
Homs and Hama in the center of the country, and Deir ez-Zor in the east. "A 15-year-old boy was martyred when soldiers manning a
checkpoint opened fire in the village of al-Rama, in Jabal al-Zawiyah," in the northwest, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
said in a statement. The LCC said the boy was killed after he was injured with his brother by "random shooting" in the village. [21] In
Damascus, activists alleged 8 soldiers were executed after refusing to fire on unarmed demonstrators. At least 6 protesters were
injured in Damascus, the LCC said. [22] The body of a defected soldier's 74-year-old brother, one of the people abducted by soldiers the
previous morning in Ibleen, was returned to his family by the Syrian Army. [18] Altogether, 14 people were reported killed throughout
Syria on 9 September. [23]
10 September Syrian police and soldiers allegedly killed 24 protesters, [24] including at least 12 in Homs alone, [25] as Naril Elaraby, the
head of the Arab League, met with Bashar al-Assad, urging him to stop violence and move forward with reforms. After the meeting,