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

5 October Activists say Syrian troops have stormed villages close to the border with Turkey in pursuit of army defectors, and that at
least three people and four soldiers died in clashes there. Military operations were centered around the Jabal al-Zawiya region where
defectors from the Syrian military are known to be active. [61] In Damascus, residents sabotaged the main square's fountain, making the
water turn red to symbolize "the blood of martyrs", referring to slain protesters. [62] Two Syrian Army tanks entered the Bekaa border
town of Arsal on the Lebanese side of the border, and fired at an abandoned battery factory, suspecting that armed men were hiding
inside. [63]
6 October The Syrian Army invades Lebanon for the second time in two days and shoots up several farmhouses, killing one person,
before retreating back across the border. [64] Protesters plan to launch new Friday demonstrations, this time under the banner of Friday
of the Syrian National Council as our Representative. [65] According to Syrian State news, a retired Brigadier General was captured
and assassinated by "armed terrorists". [66]
7 October – "Friday of the Syrian National Council as our Representative" At least 21 people were killed by security forces amid
protests by tens of thousands to support the SNC, according to activists. [67] The deaths occurred in Homs, Latakia, the Douma section
of Damascus, and Zabadani. Protests were largest in Daraa, Deir Ezzor, Qamishli, Homs, and suburban Damascus. [68]
Syrian Kurdish activist Mashaal al-Tammo was assassinated in his flat by masked gunmen, an attack blamed on Syrian security forces
by anti-government activists. Tens of thousands of Kurds took to the streets in Qamishli after Tammo's death and gathered outside the
hospital where his body was taken. [69] Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says Syria's leaders should step down if they cannot enact
reforms, but warns the West not to try to push Assad from power. [70]
8 October More than 50,000 mourners marched through the streets of Qamishli, a city in the Kurdish north-east, to mark Tammo's
funeral. [71] At least 14 people were killed after security forces opened fire on the mourners. [72]
9 October Eight loyalist soldiers were ambushed and killed by the Free Syrian Army in attacks on three army posts in Idlib
Governorate. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem warned foreign governments not to recognise the Syrian National Council,
saying, "We will take tough measures against any state which recognizes this illegitimate council." [73]
10 October The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 17 soldiers and at least 14 civilians were killed, most of them in Homs,
where loyalists clashed with defectors. Security forces arrested 27 people, it reported. The European Union issued a statement hailing
the SNC, but made no move to recognise the council as the legitimate representative of Syria as it did the National Transitional
Council in Libya. [73]
11 October Tens of thousands of Syrians rallied in Damascus in a show of support for Assad, though the opposition alleged the proregime
rally was staged and did not reflect popular opinion. [74]
12 October In the southern village of Harra, at least six loyalist soldiers and two defected soldiers were killed after an ambush against
loyalists in the town square. The northwestern town of Bannish was also the scene of clashes between loyalist and rebel army units; [75]
and the military flew 13 aircraft over the city of Aleppo, for unknown reasons. [76]
13 October At least 20 people have been killed in renewed clashes across Syria, as the European Union decided on a new set of
sanctions on President Bashar al-Assad's government. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Thursday that 10
civilians were killed in the town of Banash in the northern province of Idlib when soldiers loyal to President Bashar al-Assad stormed
the town of Binish and fought battles with gunmen and army deserters. "The Syrian army backed by tanks and armoured troop carriers
launched an assault this morning on the town of Banash and clashes took place with armed men who were apparently dissidents," the
rights group said. The group said that the army also launched an attack on Taum village, in the province's east. "Several houses were
partly destroyed and people were wounded... while the noise of heavy machineguns and explosions could be heard in several parts of
the town and ambulances seen racing through the streets." In the southern province of Deraa, where the six-month wave of protests
against Assad first erupted, the group said that six soldiers and two army deserters were killed in a clash in the town of Haara,
alongside one civilian. Another soldier was killed in the central city of Homs. [77]
14 October – "Friday of the Free Army" Syrian security forces shot dead at least six protesters on Friday during large antigovernment
demonstrations emboldened by growing international pressure on President Bashar al-Assad, activists said. The shootings
occurred in Aleppo, Syria's second city, and in the suburbs of the capital Damascus, they said. Separately, at least 20,000 Kurds
marched in the city of Qamishli near Turkey in honor of Mishaal Tammo, a Kurdish leader who was killed earlier this month, activists
said. Tammo's supporters say the authorities were behind that killing, which has fueled outrage on the streets after seven months of
political upheaval in Syria. Several thousand people also marched in the town of Hirak in the southern Hauran Plain, which was the
first region to be stormed by tanks and troops at the beginning of the uprising in an effort to put it down. In the central city of Homs,
video footage showed thousands of people rallying in the al-Khalidya neighborhood. [78] The number of people killed in Syria in
violence related to protests against President Bashar al-Assad's government has now reached more than 3,000, the United Nations
human rights chief has said, as she has called for "the international community to take immediate measures to protect the Syrian
people". [79]
15 October Syrian forces shot dead two mourners when they fired at a funeral in central Damascus for a 10-year-old child killed
during a protest a day earlier, a witness said. Some mourners began throwing stones at the security forces, who fired live ammunition
back, the witness told Reuters news agency by phone from the scene in the Maidan district on Saturday. "Passions were running high.
The body was wrapped in white and thousands behind it were chanting 'the people want the execution of the president' and 'we will be
free despite you Bashar'," the witness said. The child, Ibrahim Sheiban, was killed in a protest in the Qadam suburb of Damascus. His
funeral took place in Maidan, an old, socially conservative district of the capital, because his family is originally from there, the
witness, a private sector employee who did not want to be further identified, said. Monzer Makhous of the Syrian National Council, a
coalition of opposition groups, told Al Jazeera that the Maidan area is known for its opposition against Assad's government. "That's
why the security forces have shown such a large presence in this neighbourhood. [80]
17 October Syrian troops killed 21 people during search operations in the flashpoint central city of Homs on Monday, a human rights
group said. "Twenty-one people, some civilians and others police officers, were killed in Homs on Monday during operations by the
army and the security services in several neighbourhoods of the city," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Troops shot
dead two other civilians, one in Idlib province in the northwest and the other a 13-year-old boy in Hama, a protest centre north of
Homs, the Britain-based watchdog said. Seven soldiers were also killed in clashes with gunmen suspected of being army defectors in
Homs province, the Observatory reported earlier. It added that 20 soldiers fled into nearby orchards after those exchanges. [81]