SYRIA HAS experienced one of its bloodiest weekends since the start of the uprising, with details emerging yesterday of a violent crackdown on Friday despite the government’s attempt to stop news spreading by cutting off the internet in major cities.
Across the country, an estimated 90 people were killed on Friday, with dozens more dying since. Residents of the western town of Jisr al-Shughourin said at least 35 people had been killed there since Saturday.
The crackdown continued yesterday, with activists reporting gunfire and tanks moving into the town of Khan Shikhon in the north-west province of Idlib. Rights groups say more than 1,200 people have died and more than 10,000 have been detained in Syria since March .
Videos from Friday show what appears to be some of the biggest rallies yet, as well as graphic scenes of violence. One, purportedly to be from the roof of al-Karak mosque in Deraa shows five men with their heads smashed, lying in pools of blood.
Another shows a man in plain-clothes open fire on unarmed protesters in the city of Hama, where most of those shot dead on Friday were killed. The city was calmer on Saturday when thousands gathered for funerals, activists said.
Going back to 1982 in Hama, 10,000-30,000 people were killed when Syria’s then president, Hafez al-Assad, father of current president Bashar al-Assad, ordered security forces to put down an Islamist uprising in the city with artillery fire.
State media agency Sana reported four policemen were killed by armed terrorist groups who attacked state buildings and police stations in Jisr al-Shughour. It did not mention a video posted by some which purports to show Hama protesters hanging a man, apparently a policeman, found among mourners on Saturday.
At least four children were killed at the weekend, the Local Co-ordinating Committees, a network of local opposition committees, said. Friday’s protests were called “Freedom for Children Friday” in memory of at least 72 children killed since the protests began in mid-March.
Outrage has grown over the death of 13-year-old Hamza al-Khateeb, whose body was handed back to his parents last week with marks of severe torture.
Meanwhile, rights groups say about 500 people have been released from prison under an amnesty announced last week as the government continues to say it is preparing for a national dialogue. Opposition members and analysts have branded the moves as insincere and insufficient.
A gathering of opposition members last week in Turkey described Assad’s rule as unsustainable, given the brutality of the regime. A statement called on Assad to “resign immediately” and to hand authority to his vice-president “until the election of a transitional council”.
The decision to cut the internet appears to have backfired, irritating Syrians and drawing condemnation from the US. On Saturday, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton criticised the blackout, saying “Syria must understand that attempting to silence its population can’t prevent the transition taking place.”
However, they have stopped short of calling on Assad to step down. A draft UN security council resolution has yet to be put to the vote, with opposition coming from China and Russia. – (Nidaa Hassan is a pseudonym for a journalist in Damascus. Guardian service)