09/02/2012 / SYRIA
A resident of Homs shares his ordeal
Amid intensive shelling, Homs’ residents fear Syrian army ground assault
Known as the “capital of the Syrian revolution”, the restive city of Homs was pounded by mortar and rocket fire for a sixth day on Thursday as the Syrian army escalated its 11-month campaign to crush protests demanding an end to President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Our Observers on the ground have reported that army tanks have rolled into the neighbourhood of Inchaat sparking fears of an impending ground assault.
“The Syrian army has turned the hospital into a makeshift prison”
Mahmoud Al Arabi is a student in Homs’ Baba Amr neighbourhood.
Syrian army tanks moved into Inchaat, a nearby neighbourhood, at 6 a.m. on Wednesday morning. They seized the Al-Hikma public hospital, where we had been taking our wounded. The hospital had already been bombarded three days ago. Now they’ve turned it into a makeshift military barrack and prison, where they detain civilians and torture them.
Syrian army tanks entering the neighbourhood of Inchaat in Homs on February 8. Video posted on YouTube by aboayman81.
Bab Amr was showered with mortar and rockets this morning. More than 200 buildings were hit and at least 30 homes went up in flames. There are no fire trucks to help put out the fires, nor emergency resources, nor medicine. We have more than 200 people injured here and no means to take care of them. The public hospitals are too dangerous because Assad’s forces can easily access the wounded”.
“They’ll eventually launch a ground assault”
Majed Al-Homsi, 20, is a student in Homs’ Khalidiya neighbourhood.
The Syrian army is everywhere. There is also talk of tanks in the streets of Hama and in the capital Damascus. We can hear sniper fire and the sound of heavy shelling striking the neighbourhood of Baba Amr. The military is closing in on my neighbourhood [Khalidiya]. Eventually they’ll launch a ground assault, just like they did next door in Inchaat”.
Syria's intensifying crisis in amateur images
Growing army presence in Hama
Military vehicles are seen lining the streets and snipers are positioned on the roofs of buildings in the town of Kafr Zita. Video posted on YouTube by safyloux.
Oil shortage in Deir Ezzor
Protesters gather in Hama to show their support for Homs' residents
A resident of Homs shares his ordeal
A resident of Homs’ Karm al-Zeitoun neighbourhood describes the challenges of daily life. A group of children swarm around him crying out, “We want bread”, “The people want to overthrow the regime” and “Allah Akbar” (“God is great”). The man says, “We don’t have any more bread, the electricity and gas have been cut off. What is the Arab nation doing? Is no one afraid of god? Where is Saudi Arabia? Russia and China are also conspiring against Syria, all peoples are against Syria. Where is Bashar, who says he is the Syrian people? Baba Amr has been under attack since five in the morning, there are dead and wounded. We are dying from cold. They’ve been asked to kill the children. We abase ourselves for a piece of bread. Where are the Gulf nations who promise to help? The medicine has been stolen, the food has been stolen”. Video posted on YouTube by soshoms42011.
Assad's snipers
A Syrian activist shows how snipers and police, who he calls “Bashar’s gangs”, position themselves in a school in the neighbourhood of Karm al-Zeitoun in Homs. The words “God, Syria, Bashar (and that’s all)” are scrawled onto the wall. The activist says, “This school where our children study is filled with ammunition”. Video posted on YouTube by soshoms42011.
"Fierce bombardment"
Mortar and rocket fire strike the Homs' neighbourhood of Baba Amr on February 6. A voice is heard saying "Fierce bombardment, heavy shelling, Hawn, god help us". Video posted on YouTube by MrZezo1974.
Post written with FRANCE 24 journalist Maha Ben Abdelahim.
