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

least 100 children. [43] Speaking separately in New York, the foreign minister of Syria's neighbor Iraq said a change of regime in Syria
appears inevitable. Tanks surrounded the town of al-Kiswa, opposition activists claimed. [41]
21 September Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey announced that Turkey has cut of all relations and contacts with Syria, and is
considering joining in on the sanctions. [44]
22 September The Syrian opposition announced its intention for another Friday of protests, this time under the banner Friday of
Unification against the Regime. [45]
23 September – "Friday of Unification Against the Regime" Protesters took to the street, with protests occurring in Hama, Homs,
Damascus, Aleppo, and Daraa. 50,000 attended an anti-government march in Homs. 12 protesters across Syria were killed by security
forces. Amnesty international announced the death and mutilation of an 18 year old girl in the hands of the Syrian army. The girl's
body was returned to her mother by the Syrian army, and the corpse had clear signs of torture, including skin ripped off and her arms
cut off. [46] Turkey continued to attempt to alienate the Syrian government, and has announced that it will be enforcing an arms
embargo on Syria, and confiscate any weapon deliveries to Syria by ship. The European Union also toughened sanctions against the
Syrian government, while Switzerland established a ban on Syrian oil imports on Friday. [47]
25 September Syria pressed on with a crackdown on anti-regiment dissent Sunday, dispatching troop reinforcements to the flashpoint
province of Homs and security forces near Damascus, activists said. "Military reinforcements were sent to Rastan, deploying around
the building housing military security, and others to Qusseir," a town on the border with Lebanon, they said. The Syrian army had
strengthened its presence in Qusseir on Saturday and previous days after many civilians tried to flee the area to escape the violence.
The deployments come a day after activists reported that security forces had killed 12 civilians in Qusseir, in the central province of
Homs, and one more in Hama, further north. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights which carried the toll said that the 12
civilians were killed in Qusseir during raids for people wanted by the authorities. [48]
28 September Syrian security forces killed at least 76 people in the past five days as part of a crackdown on protests against President
Bashar al-Assad’s government, a human rights activist said. At least seven people were killed today in the central governorate of
Homs, following the death of 15 protesters yesterday there and in Hama, the northern province of Idlib and in the southern area of
Daraa, where the uprising against Assad began in March, Mahmoud Merhi, head of the Arab Organization for Human Rights, said by
phone today. State media said “terrorists” killed General Nael al- Dakhil, deputy chief of the chemistry faculty at Al-Baath University
in Homs, and Mohammad Ali Akeel, deputy dean of its architecture faculty. Activists said security forces murdered them after they
expressed opposition to the crackdown. Homs is a focal point of the uprising against Assad’s government and the hometown of his
wife, Asma. [49]
29 September The Free Syrian Army claimed to have destroyed 17 loyalist tanks in the town of Rastan, and there were reports of
more defections occurring with the ranks of the Syrian Army, raising fears that civil war could break out. [50][51] At least 38 loyalist
soldiers were injured in Rastan, some critically. [52] About 100 "pro-assad" protesters attempted to attack the U.S. ambassadors convoy,
but Ambassador Ford and his convoy remained unharmed in the incident. Security forces killed 17 protesters throughout Syria, and
the Opposition prepared for a new Friday of Protests, under the Banner of Friday of Victory for the Levant and Yemen. [53]
30 September – "Friday of Victory for the Levant and Yemen" Syrian security forces have clashed with protesters, killing at least
30 people as tens of thousands have rallied across the country calling for President Bashar al-Assad to step down, activists say. There
were reports that the security forces opened fire on protesters at several of the demonstrations on Friday, and that there were also
clashes between troops who have joined the protesters and those loyal to Assad. Protests were reported in suburbs of Damascus, the
capital, as well as in the southern province of Deraa, the northwestern province of Idlib, in Hama, Homs and several other cities. An
opposition activist, speaking to Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity, described the scene at one protest in Damascus: [54] The area
where I stay now, a protest went around and it was soon attacked by security forces, and the attack included batons, hitting with
batons, some gas bombs and later live ammunition that was shot all around. At least one person was injured. Later, after that, we
could see a number of soldiers – we could see a clash between the soldiers and the security forces. And my friends confirmed that
eight soldiers at least defected and shot back on the security forces.
October 2011
2 October Chairman Burhan Ghalioun of the Syrian National Council announced that an agreement had been reached in the aims and
structure of the SNC. This followed two days of talks in Turkey. Bassma Kodmani, the appointed spokesperson for the SNC, stated
that a general assembly of 190 members will be convened in November, along with a 29-strong general secretariat representing seven
Syrian opposition factions. [55] Among the constituent members groups of the SNC are the Muslim Brotherhood, the signatories of the
2005 Damascus Declaration and members of the Higher Syrian Revolutionary Council. [56] The news was reportedly welcomed with a
rally in Jisr ash-Shugur, according to pro-opposition Shams News Network. Meanwhile, the government in Damascus announced its
retaking of Rastan, while members of the Free Syrian Army announced their retreat from the town. Anti-Assad activists told the BBC
that 250 tanks had been sent into the town by the Assad government, and that 50 of those vehicles had left on 2 October. [55] Saria
Hassoun, son of Syria's Grand Mufti Sheikh Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun, was reportedly shot dead near Ibla University on the road
between Idleb and Aleppo. Also killed in the ambush was Professor of History at Aleppo University Dr. Mohammad al-Omar; both
were taken to Idleb National Hospital, where they were pronounced dead. SANA blamed the deaths on "armed terrorist groups"; Al-
Arabiya linked the incident to a spate of killings by armed dissidents of suspected Assad regime informers, most of whom were
academicians, and that Syria was veering toward civil war. [57] French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy called for the release of Syria's
first female practicing psychoanalyst Rafah Nashed, who was arrested en route to Paris in September. Meanwhile, Venezuelan
President Hugo Chávez reiterated his support for both deposed Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi and Assad, calling them
"brothers" and backing Assad against "an aggression from Yankee imperialists and their European allies". [58] Rallies were reported in
Hirak, Jabal az-Zawiya, Talmans, Jarjanaz, Maarat Horma, Kafr Takhareem, Bansh, Sermeen, Saraqeb, Hass, Jassem, Teebat al-
Imam, Houran, Taseel, and Dael. Security forces reportedly killed six civilians.
4 October At the UN Security Council in New York, China and Russia vetoed sanctions against Syria. [59] Hours later, Turkey
threatened unilateral sanctions, [60] and announced war games along the border.