09/11/2012 / SYRIA
Screen grab of a video showing rebels, who say they are just outside of Damascus, shooting mortars.
Syrian rebels hit Damascus’ elite where they live
Screen grab from a video showing smoke from a bombing in the neighbourhood of Mazzeh in Damascus. Filmed on November 7.
Since Wednesday, Damascus has seen mounting violence, with mortar fire landing in a neighbourhood that many of the country's Alawite leaders call home. Street battles between rebels and the army are also taking place just outside the city limits. Our Observer tells us about the wave of panic among residents of the capital.
Several bomb attacks shook the capital and its suburbs early this week, resulting in at least 30 deaths and scores of wounded. Though the bombings stopped on Thursday morning, fighting between rebels and the army continues.
For the first time, the rebels attacked the capital’s ritziest neighbourhoods, where Alawite Muslims live. However, the centre of the capital has so far been spared; it is safeguarded by president Bashar Al-Assad’s brother, Maher, who commands the army’s 4th division.
The population of Syria is made up of a majority of Sunni Muslims (nearly 70 percent of the population) and of religious minorities, including Shiites (about 10 percent). The country’s leaders, including the president, are Alawite, which is the main branch of Shiism in Syria.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based opposition watchdog, more than 37,000 people have died since the beginning of the Syrian uprising in March 2011.
Contributors
"The rebels are now threatening to take their fight into the very heart of the capital”
Nabil (not his real name) is a translator who lives in Damascus.
The rebels are launching mortar fire all the way from the suburbs of Damascus to the Alawite neighbourhoods inside the city. As for the street battles, they’re taking place at the entrances to the city – even on highway on-ramps. These firefights can last for two to three hours, and then it’s calm for a while before starting anew. Thursday morning, for example, the highway leading toward Jordan was blocked due to the battles.
The mortar fire mostly targets the districts of Mazzeh and Kafr Sousseh. The neighbourhood of Mazzeh 86, located near the presidential palace, is on lockdown. This area is not only home to Alawites, it is home to members of the security forces and their families. So it’s usually very well protected. The capital’s residents really started to panic when they realized that even this neighbourhood was no longer safe.
Families living in Mazzeh 86 have begun to flee the city and head to coastal towns like Tartus, and the suburbs of Latakia [this part of Syria’s northeast is home to many Alawites, including the president’s family]. Their exit was not discreet, since they travelled in groups, in big buses dispatched by the authorities. Normally, these buses are only used during important ceremonies, like national holidays.
Everyone in the city is panicked; people are stocking up on food and other basic supplies out of fear that the situation might worsen in the coming days. They can’t drive much because of all the new roadblocks all over the city. During rush hour, it’s become very hard for people to get to work. For example, I live in the suburb of Jormanah and work in downtown Damascus. Usually, it takes me 45 minutes to get to my workplace. Now, it takes me two and a half hours.
The rebel fighters are now close enough to the capital to not only strike the Alawite neighbourhoods, but also to disrupt daily life throughout the capital, and that’s new. They’re now threatening to take their fight to the streets in the very heart of the capital.
Post written with FRANCE 24 journalist Sara Grira.
Comments
It is admitted that the main
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Fri, 09/11/2012 - 23:38.It is admitted that the main insurgent group striking the Government in Damascus is the al-Nusra front, a descendant of al Qaeda in Iraq. Al Qaeda in Iraq operatives have flooded to Syria to exploit Syria and turn it into a Jihad stronghold to attack the West. Not only would they do this, they would also attempt ethnic cleansing of any sect they disapprove of such as Alawites, Christians etc. The reason we cannot arm them is simply that, in spite of our idiotic support for these barbarians, we are still aware that they would behead anyone who came from the US or British government to aid them. Al-Qaeda is being targeted by the US and British governments and the insurgents in Syria have come from the aftermath of the Iraq War to fight Assad. They have nothing in common with the West, they are the same insurgents responsible for British and US deaths in Iraq and rendering any support will have extreme blowback