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

said. In the port city of Latakia, an activist said he counted 13 security trucks surrounding the main Arsalan mosque. He said at least
three protesters were wounded by security forces firing in front of the Bazar mosque in the centre of the city. "They were hit and
taken by the security forces. In front of every mosque in Latakia there are several hundred security personnel carrying either batons,
handguns, or automatic rifles," the activist said. [104] A total of 126 unidentified bodies were taken during the past three days to Al-
Watani Hospital in Homs, Syria, a doctor there told CNN. The trauma physician did not want to be identified out of fear of retribution
by government forces, who were at the hospital. Eight of the bodies were burnt, he said Saturday, adding that the deaths have not been
reported in the state-run news media. [105]
7 November Syria's opposition has appealed for international intervention in the central city of Homs, one of the focal points of the
country's uprising, calling it a "humanitarian disaster area". The appeal, issued by the Turkey-based Syrian National Council, came as
activists reported that at least 11 people were killed across the country on Monday, including two children, in an ongoing crackdown
on anti-government protesters by security forces. Activists said that at least eight of the dead were in Homs where hundreds of
residents protested against the rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, adding that government troops stormed several areas and
made house-to-house arrests. Heavy artillery clashes erupted between regime forces and presumed army defectors in Homs, activists
reported, saying it was the fifth day of a "brutal siege on the brave city". More than 110 people have been killed in the past week in
Homs according to the Local Co-ordination Committees activist network. [106]
8 November In Hama, around 50 km north of Homs, tanks and armoured vehicles could be seen moving towards the city centre as
snipers and armed government supporters surrounded a medical complex and the headquarters of the ruling Baath Party, the LCC
said. The activist network reported that five people were killed in Hama. Explosions and heavy gunfire could be heard in the city, and
electricity and internet services had been disabled, they said. [107]
10 November Syrian security forces raided homes and clashes erupted between soldiers and army defectors Thursday, killing at least
21 people across the country, including an 8-year-old girl and six soldiers, activists from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
said. In some of the attacks, security forces opened fire as they conducted raids in search of dissidents in areas including the suburbs
of the capital, Damascus, Deir ez-Zor, Hama, Daraa, and Homs. [108]
11 November – "Friday of Freezing Syria's Arab League Membership" As least 30 civilians were killed by the Syrian security
forces and army troops, according to Syrian activists. Most of the victims were reported in the restive city of Homs as Human Rights
Watch renewed accusations of the regime's crimes against humanity. The deaths came amid mass anti-regime rallies demanding the
Arab League suspend Syria’s membership in the pan-Arab body to sanction its brutal, eight-month crackdown on dissent. Security
forces broke up demonstrations in al-Malaab, a main thoroughfare in Homs, but rallies relocated and mushroomed, engulfing eight
neighborhoods, including a Al-Bayada, al-Ghuta and Baba Amr, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement from
Nicosia, according to AFP. In the northwestern province of Idlib, near Turkey, demonstrations erupted after the weekly Muslim
midday prayers. The Observatory also reported mass protests in Idlib’s Sheikhun in the wake of a “retreat by security forces from
government buildings following violent clashes" and that “security forces unleashed heavy gunfire to disperse demonstrations,” in the
eastern oil hub of Deir al-Zor. In Damascus, security forces deployed on the streets of Barzeh and posted snipers on rooftops, after a
wave of arrests and deadly violence shook the capital's neighborhood. In the town of Busret al-Sham, in Deraa province, cradle of the
revolt, “security forces shot dead one person,” the Observatory said. [109]
12 November The Arab League announced it would suspend Syria effective 16 November over the violent crackdown and promised
new sanctions, while also urging member states to withdraw ambassadors from Damascus. [110] The Saudi Arabian and Qatari
embassies were attacked by crowds in Damascus. [111] Turkish and French consulates in Latakia were also attacked by crowds. [citation
needed] and the Turkish consulate attacked by angry crowd also in Aleppo. [112]
13 November Hundreds of thousands of supporters of the Assad regime protested against the Arab League decision. Protests against
the Arab Leagues decision occurred in Damascus, Tartus, and Latakia. [113] Meanwhile Syrian security forces on Sunday pressed a
crackdown on dissent, killing five people in the central cities of Homs and Hama, rights activists said, adding two loyalist soldiers
were killed in an ambush. "Security forces opened fire killing four people in Hama," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in
an email received in Nicosia. In the central city of Homs, government snipers killed one person on Cairo Street in the early morning,
said the Observatory, which reported a similar incident in the same place the previous day. Meanwhile, engineering students were
injured by a "round of mortar" fire which hit their faculty building in Baath University, also in Homs, the same source added. Two
civilians, one in Homs and the other in Hama, died from gunshot wounds suffered the previous day. Suspected army defectors
ambushed and killed 2 loyalist soldiers patrolling town of Qusayr, near Homs, the Observatory said. [114] By the end of the day, Syrian
security forces had killed 26 people throughout Syria. [115]
14 November At least 16 people were killed in clashes in and around Deraa, while three were killed in Homs and one was killed and
11 wounded in Saramein. [116] Activists said the army killed 20 people in an attack on Khirbet Ghazaleh near the Jordanian border,
including both civilians and armed fighters. The European Union agreed to expand sanctions against regime officials, while Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he believed the Arab League's suspension was a ploy by Western states to destabilise Syria. [117]
Troops backed by armor killed 20 people, army defectors, insurgents and civilians, in an assault on Khirbet Ghazaleh in the Hauran
Plain, and in fighting that ensued near the town. A similar number of troops were killed. [118]
15 November The death toll rose to 70 people as fighting continued into 15 November, activists reported. The UK-based Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesday that 27 civilians were shot dead by security forces and 34 soldiers as well as 12
suspected army deserters were killed in clashes. Most of the victims were killed in the southern flashpoint province of Deraa, the
observatory said in a statement. "Twenty-three people were shot dead by security forces posted along the road between the towns of
Kherbet Ghazale and Hirak," the statement said. At least four other civilians were killed by security force fire in the city of Homs, a
protest hub in central Syria, the rights group reported. [119] The Jordanian embassy in Damascus was attacked by Assad loyalists after
King Abdullah II criticized the violence and called for Bashar al-Assad to stepdown. The Syrian National Council calls for UN
peacekeepers into Syria.
16 November According to opposition sources, Syrian army deserters attacked a military intelligence office in Harasta, near the
capital Damascus, killing six soldiers and wounding more than 20. "The Syrian Free Army struck with rockets and RPGs" said Omar
Idlibi, the Beirut-based spokesperson for the opposition Syrian Local Co-ordination Committees. Army defectors also killed eight
soldiers and wounded dozens in an attack on a security checkpoint in the town of Kafr Zeta in Hama, the London-based Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said. [120] A further 17 civilians were killed when Syrian troops fired on anti-government protesters in