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

Elaraby announced that "a deal has been agreed to for reforms". The Syrian opposition were angered at Elaraby's meeting with Assad,
arguing that "a deal for reform" is meaningless at this stage. [26]
11 September Troops surrounded several villages, including near the protest hubs of Deir ez-Zor and Deraa, and conducted house-tohouse
raids and arrests. Sawasiah, a Syrian human rights organisation, claimed that at least 113 civilians had been killed over the past
seven days, including three who were apparently tortured to death in military prisons. Leaders of the Syrian opposition again met in
Istanbul and were scheduled to speak with a Paris-based Syrian academic by phone to discuss the unification of anti-government
factions into a more cohesive political force. [27] Citing activists in Abu Kamal, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a
woman was killed at midday by a stray bullet fired by security forces conducting arrests in the eastern town. It also said its sources in
Damascus had reported a teenager wounded by a bullet while attending a funeral that was attacked by security personnel the previous
day died as a result of his injuries. [28] The body of Ghiyath Mattar, 26, was returned to his family in Daraya, a suburb of Damascus.
Ghiyath played a key role in organizing antigovernment protests. A friend of Ghiyath who saw his upper body today said that there
were bruises on the chest, and his face had traces of wounds. Security forces (most likely Air Force intelligence, according to friends
and relatives) had detained Ghiyath on 6 September with another leading protest organizer in Daraya, Yahya Sharbaji. [29]
12 September Three prominent Syrian clerics of the Alawite sect, which President Bashar al-Assad belongs, have denounced the
violence committed by the Syrian government against protesters. “We declare our innocence from these atrocities carried out by
Bashar al-Assad and his aides who belong to all religious sects,” Mohib Nisafi, Yassin Hussein and Mussa Mansour said in a joint
statement from Homs. The three clerics denied state-media reports that members of the Shiite Alawite sect are being subjected to acts
of killing and kidnapping in Homs, and said “The daily reports of kidnappings, killings and harassment of members of the Alawite
sect are all untrue. They are designed and spread to cause divisions among people united against the regime.” [30] Meanwhile at least 26
civilians were killed in the Syrian government's ongoing crackdown on protesters, the Local Coordination Committees of Syria said.
Among the dead was a 12-year-old boy shot to death when Syrian security forces fired on a funeral procession, according to the
London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.. The funeral procession was for a protester killed on 11 September, the
observatory said. In addition, 17 people were killed during operations by the military and security forces in Hama as authorities
searched for wanted activists and demonstrators, the organization said. [31]
13 September Protesters in Deraa and Homs burned the Russian flag in protest over Russia's threatened veto of a United Nations
Security Council resolution condemning Assad. [32]
14 September Syrian rights activists say security forces have opened fire in northwestern villages Wednesday in an ongoing effort to
crush dissent as the government rejected an Arab League demand for an end to the crackdown. Rights activists said government
troops fired heavy machine guns during raids on several villages in Idlib province near the Turkish border. They say security forces
cut local communications, blocked roads and made arrests. [33] The US ambassador Robert Stephen Ford and representatives from
France, Germany, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, the UK and the EU in an unprecedented gesture of solidarity with Syria's protest
movement took part in a vigil for a prominent human rights activist Ghiyath Mattar believed to have been killed under torture by
security forces. [34]
15 September A group of Syrian activists declared on Thursday a council representing a united front in opposition to al-Assad. About
140 figures, including exiled opponents and 70 dissidents inside Syria, were chosen as members of the new Syrian National Council,
concluding a four-day meeting in the Turkish city of Istanbul. The council aims to help topple Assad within six months and form an
interim government thereafter, Basma Kadmani, a Syrian exile living in France, announced. [35] Mass protests are planned for Friday,
under the banner of Friday of "continuing until we bring down the regime" [35]
16 September – "Friday of Continuing Until We Bring Down the Regime" The Syrian Revolution General Commission claimed
at least 18 were killed when police and army forces fired on demonstrations in and around Deraa, Homs, and Hama, among other
cities. [36] The LCC said it could confirm 19 deaths. Protests were reportedly attended by thousands, with anti-Assad rallies also
springing up in Damascus and its suburbs, Deir ez-Zor Governorate, and Latakia Governorate. Thousands of Syrian Kurds also
demonstrated in the northeast, according to at least one activist. State-run media reported that one police officer was killed and four
wounded when they were shot at in Busra al-Harir, a village in Deraa Governorate. [37]
By the end of the day, the death toll had reached 45 protesters. [38]
17 September Syrian opposition members called on President Bashar Assad Sunday to end his deadly six-month crackdown or face
an escalation in peaceful protests, as security forces fired warning shots to disperse high school students calling for the regime's
downfall. The weekend meeting drew more than 200 opposition figures, including leading writer Michel Kilo and Hassan Abdul-
Azim, who heads the outlawed Arab Socialist Democratic Union party. It was also notable because it took place inside Syria, rather
than in a neighboring country, as most others have. A statement released after the meeting called on Assad's regime to immediately
end its "acts of repression," and it urged protesters to keep their movement peaceful and not be tempted to take up arms. The Londonbased
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a boy succumbed to his wounds in the southern village of Sanamein two days after
being shot be security forces. [39]
18 September At least 4 people were killed across Syria on Sunday, the Local Coordination Committees reported, as violence
between protesters and Syrian security forces continued unabated. The LCC, an opposition activist group that organizes and
documents anti-government demonstrations, said that 2 people were killed in Idlib and one person each in Daraa and Homs. Among
the dead was an 11-year-old child, who had been wounded in the head by gunfire, the LCC reported. In Daraa province, security
forces arrested activists suspected of participating in protests, the group said. [40]
19 September The General Organisation for the Syrian Revolution said 13 people were killed in Syria throughout the day, including
children and defected soldiers, in places including Deraa, Hama, Homs, and Latakia governorates. Thirty were reportedly arrested in
Sahl al-Hawla and 20 were injured. In al-Bayadha, defected soldiers staged a hit-and-run attack on three army tanks, but it was
unclear whether they caused any significant damage. Schoolchildren in Deraa were truant, protesting and refusing to return to school
until Assad left power. In Harasta, outside Damascus, army vehicles blocked the expressway to Aleppo for unknown reasons. [41] Iraq
also announced that it has requested Bashar Assad to step down. [42]
20 September The White House says U.S. President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan have agreed
to "increase pressure" on the Syrian regime to end the violence against antigovernment protesters. The U.S. and Turkish leaders
discussed Syria in a meeting on 20 September on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly in New York. UN officials have
estimated that pro-Assad forces have killed some 2,700 people since the uprising against the regime started in March, including at