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

17 January According to the LCC, at least 30 people were killed by security forces; 18 of them in Homs. It said that the dead
included two children and four SA defectors. [79][80] Both SANA and the LCC reported four people were killed and seven wounded
when a roadside bomb struck a minibus on the Idlib–Saraqeb road. SANA blamed "terrorists" while the LCC blamed government
forces. [80][81] SANA also reported two policemen were shot dead outside Idlib Central Prison and the bodies of three soldiers and a
civilian contractor were found with bullet wounds at a graveyard in Ariha. [81] In Zabadani, where a military assault was underway over
the weekend, anti-government insurgents and army troops reportedly reached an agreement to mutually withdraw armed fighters from
the city's streets. The ceasefire also halted the tank bombardment of Zabadani, an opposition leader claimed. He said the withdrawal
of regime forces from the city was set to begin on 18 January. [82]
18 January Anwar Malek, an Algerian ex-observer from the Arab League monitoring mission, said in an interview from his home in
Paris that Syrian officials tried to intimidate him and other observers. He called for military aid to the rebels by the United States and
other countries as the only way to resolve the conflict. [83] A European Union spokesman said the supranational body was weighing
new sanctions against the Syrian government. [84] Reuters reported that Lebanese Druze politician Walid Jumblatt expressed concern
during an interview in Beirut about a full-scale civil war in neighbouring Syria. Of Assad, Jumblatt said he was not listening to advice
from former allies like Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, adding, "Up 'til now he has refused to listen to the rightful
demands of the Syrian people for a new Syria." [85] The LCC said 21 people were killed by security forces during the day, including 13
in Homs. Meanwhile, SANA claimed 15 soldiers and policemen, including an army colonel, were killed in "recent" fighting. [84]
19 January The military withdrew from Zabadani to positions 8 km away, residents said, upholding their end of a deal brokered
between army and opposition representatives. The Arab League's observation mandate officially expired, but an official in Cairo said
observers would remain in Syria until at least 22 January, when Arab League ministers would meet to determine whether or not to
extend the duration of the mission. [86] The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. Treasury Department officials said they had proof
that Iran was attempting to dodge an international embargo on exporting oil to Syria. An unnamed Iranian official quoted in the article
insisted that Tehran is not bound to comply with the embargo or any sanctions against Syria. [87] Leading Kurdish opposition figures
said anti-government Kurdish activists and political dissents planned to unite and present their vision for a post-Assad Syria to Arab
opposition members, citing distrust that Arabs would allow Kurdish autonomy in northeastern Syria if the government fell. Sources
reported as many as 25 were killed in Syria throughout the day, Al Arabiya said. [88]
20 January – "Friday for Revolutionary Detainees" Weekly Friday protests occurred, with the largest protests occurring in Idlib,
Aleppo, Damascus, and Homs. Other protests occurred in Daraa, Deir Ezzor, Zabadani, Hama, and Latakia. Security forces prevented
worshippers attending the Omari mosque in the southern town of Deraa. A security officer who had defected, was assassinated in
Deraa, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Activists said at least 12 people were killed on Friday, including seven in
Idlib. [89][90][91] French daily Le Figaro reported that FSA members mistakingly killed the French journalist Gilles Jacquier by firing a
mortar round into a Syrian Army-controlled neighborhood of Homs, citing interviews with rebel leaders. The Free Syrian Army
denied responsibility. [92][93] Ahmad el-Tayyeb, the grand imam of Cairo's Al-Azhar, the highest seat of Sunni Muslim learning, urged
"Arab rulers to take the necessary measures to halt bloodshed in Syria", the state news agency MENA quoted him as saying on Friday.
NATO's most senior officer said on Thursday that the alliance was not planning or even "thinking" of intervening in Syria. Burhan
Ghalioun, the leader of the opposition Syrian National Council, also headed to Cairo to lobby the Arab ministers to refer the observer
mission's findings to the United Nations Security Council for tough action. [89][94] SANA reported that the chief warrant officer of
Daraa was killed after being abducted by the FSA. [95] As many as 19 people were killed by shooting from Syrian security forces on
Friday, Al Arabiya reported, citing Syrian activists. [96]
21 January According to the Local Coordination Committees, 60 unidentified corpses were found in the morgue of the hospital in
Idlib. The corpses reportedly had signs of torture. [97] The LCC said that security forces opened fire inside and outside the hospital as
activists and residents found the bodies. A mass arrest campaign was reportedly underway in the area. [98] Including the corpses in
Idlib, the death toll for the day reportedly reached a total of 94 people, including 14 prisoners on a bus in Idlib, two people shot dead
by security forces in Douma, one in Deir Ezzor, and three in Homs. [97] SANA reported that police vehicles were attacked with
explosives at al-Mastouma. One of the vehicles was allegedly transporting prisoners. It said that 14 people were killed while 26
prisoners and at least six police were wounded. [99] SANA also reported that security forces clashed with gunmen trying to enter Syria
from Lebanon, near al-Msherfeh village. Three gunmen were reportedly killed. [100] The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights said that the FSA had temporarily seized parts of the town of Douma, near Damascus, during the night. Local activists reported
that the FSA built barricades and occupied the streets but eventually withdrew to their hideouts, "most likely because it could offer the
regime an excuse to storm the area". [101] However, the LCC denied that the FSA took control of Douma. [102] The United States
announced it was preparing to shut down its embassy in Syria. [103]
22 January The Arab League held a meeting at which the representative of Saudi Arabia announced the kingdom would withdraw its
funding and personnel from the observer mission, saying it had failed. The League also drafted a plan calling for Assad to relinquish
power to Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa and form a national unity government modeled off that of the Republic of Yemen, to
include opposition leaders and establish an independent commission of inquiry into the uprising and crackdown, similar to the
Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry established to investigate the uprising in Bahrain, as well as reorganize the security
forces with international assistance and prepare for free and fair parliamentary elections within three months of its formation. In the
United States, Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand introduced new legislation in the United States Senate to increase
pressure on the Syrian government with further sanctions. [104] Qatari Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani said the Arab
League planned to ask the UN Security Council to endorse the initiative. [105] After the body of a 14-year-old Lebanese boy killed the
day before by security forces who stormed a fishing boat in Mediterranean waters disputed between Beirut and Damascus was
returned to his family, mourners threw stones at Syrian soldiers along the international border, calling Assad "the enemy of God".
According to news reports, the soldiers did not retaliate, and the mourners eventually dispersed. One of the boy's two uncles seized in
the attack on the boat said after his release that he had been interrogated and beaten in custody on suspicion of being an arms
smuggler. [106] Two Swiss journalists who were colleagues of Gilles Jacquier, the French reporter killed in Homs days earlier, said they
blamed Syrian authorities for Jacquier's death. They claimed there were indications the "ambush" may have been planned in
advance. [107] In Talfita, a village outside Damascus, three members of the SA, one anti-government militant and two civilians were
killed in clashes, the SOHR claimed. Citing opposition sources in Douma, Reuters reported that the FSA was said to be in control of
about two-thirds of the town's main streets, with off-and-on fighting continuing. [105]