We were able to identify from the distinctive signs visible on the armor and we have elements within the army who informed us in advance of the arrival of theses reinforcements, Hamza al-Omar, a member of the Syrian Revolution General Commission, told France24.
Among other things, Maher is known as the butcher of Deera for having personally led the assault against protesters in this southern Syrian city last spring.
Once Syrian troops moved into Baba Amr, backed by tanks and armored vehicles, it took them but 36 hours to gain full control.
The Free Syrian Army lacked the military resources to resist accordingly.
The equipment it did possess, such as machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and one tank it managed to seize from the enemy, was simply no match for the Syrian army’s superior firepower, consisting of artillery, multiple rocket launchers, helicopters and tanks firing 120ml rounds.
But by the end we ran out of ammunition. We were under siege for 27 days. We used everything we had. We couldn’t continue fighting any more, Omar al-Homsi, a FSA officer from Baba Amr, told The Guardian.
Following a month of heavy bombardment and shelling from tanks, rockets, mortars and all kinds of heavy weapons, the Free Syrian Army could not hold on longer, Col. Malik al-Kurdi, a spokesman for the FSA based in Turkey, told the WP.
In addition, living conditions in the devastated neighborhood had deteriorated to such an extent that the fighting had to cease if the local population was to survive.
All the routes we could use to provide the city with food and medication were completely cut off. We simply couldn’t stay there any more, al-Homsi added.
On a Facebook page, the FSA explained why it had decided to leave the area.
We, the Bab Amr brigade, have decided to withdraw strategically for the sake of the civilians remaining inside the neighborhood. The humanitarian situation is at its worst, as there is no food whatsoever, no medicines, no water and no electricity, the statement said.
Yesterday, Baba Amr inhabitants were trying to catch falling snowflakes with pots and pans...
As Syrian troops swept through the neighborhood, checking each building to ensure no FSA members were hiding, activists reported that, in the process, they were detaining all males over the age of fifteen.
Fears that the regime would seek revenge for the city’s defiance on anyone it could get its hands on were rampant.
We are very concerned about the civilians because the history of this regime means they are likely to kill everyone who is there, Wissam Tarif, of the activist group Avaaz, told Liz Sly of the WP, from Beirut.
According to some reports, the bodies of seventeen beheaded victims were found in an area adjacent to Baba Amr, civilians apparently trying to flee the city.
The regime and its supporters were jubilant that resistance in Baba Amr had been crushed.
It’s the beginning of Syria’s final victory over the Qatari, Saudi, French, American and Zionist conspiracy against Syria, Taleb Ibrahim, a pro-government Syrian analyst told a Lebanese Hezbollah TV network, according to The Guardian.
Opposition activists were adamant that the FSA’s retreat did not signify the end of the struggle against the brutal Assad regime.
It will not stop the uprising. There will be a new centre of the revolution and the Free Syrian Army, Sami, a Homs activist told The Guardian.
The FSA, for its part, was defiant.
We warn the Assad regime against any reaction that will target civilians and we place full responsibility on the regime for the safety of the civilians who are caught in the middle of this.
We warn, any action by the regime that crosses the limits and affects civilians will see a severe response from our side. We promise you, the people of Syria, Baba Amr will remain the eye and heart of this revolution until we gain full victory. Whatever the price we have to pay and whatever we have to give up…we are returning stronger, god willing, the Facebook statement said.
The last two foreign journalists remaining in Homs, Edith Bouvier and William Daniels managed at last to reach Lebanon on Thursday evening. They are expected in Paris late Friday
The two French journalists, along with Paul Conroy, a British photographer who had accompanied Marie Colvin and was wounded in the attack that killed her and French photographer Rémi Ochlik, and the Spanish reporter Javier Espinosa had set off for Lebanon on Sunday, guided and protected by Syrian activists and FSA members.
Edith Bouvier had also been wounded in last week’s attack, suffering a broken leg.
They simply could no longer remain in Homs. Syrian troops were deliberately targeting the building in which they found refuge, soon to be reduced to rubble.
The Syrians were firing at them from four different directions. They were trying to kill them, one witness told The Guardian.
In addition, the journalists no longer had access to food and water.
The Syrian security forces however, monitored the lone escape route leading out of the neighborhood towards Lebanon.
As a result, therefore, once underway, the group was fired upon, leading to its dislocation. Conroy went on ahead, but Espinosa stayed behind to tend to the Syrian escorts wounded in the attack. Thirteen local activists were killed in this attempt to save the journalists…
Although the Spanish reporter was subsequently able to pursue his journey, Bouvier and Daniels were compelled to turn back…
Conroy reached Lebanon on Tuesday and Espinosa the next day.
Bouvier and Daniels, who were moved from Baba Amr to an adjacent neighborhood on Tuesday, were successfully escorted to Lebanon on Thursday.
According to videos posted online on Thursday however, Marie Colvin and Rémi Ochlik were buried in Homs on February 27.
The lack of electricity and fuel prevented the adequate preservation of their remains.
During a burial ceremony, a physician, Dr. Mohammed al-Mohammed described Marie Colvin as a martyr. She was telling the truth about what is happening in Baba Amr. May God be merciful to you, Marie, as we bury you in this garden, he said.
In a separate video, he commended Rémi Ochlik for doing his humanitarian duty and doing his duty as completely as possible to send the true picture of what is going on in Baba Amr during the most terrible time, according to Aljazeera.
The battle has now moved to other restive n neighborhoods of Homs, such as al Bayada, al-Khalidiyeh and Karm al-Zeytoun.
The security forces will then head to Hama, leveled in 1982 by Assad’s father Hafez, and Idlib, both in open revolt.
The army does not have the resources to attack on several fronts simultaneously, however.
It is not strong enough to fight in the whole country, but it is strong enough to fight civilians and defectors with light weapons. They don’t have enough troops to deal with all these uprisings at the same time, so they go from one to one to one, Akil Hashem, an adviser to the Syrian National Council, and a retired general, told the NYT.
No doubt, the Fourth Division will play a key role in this campaign.
The Fourth Division is known for its brutality and it’s a symbol of the regime’s striking force, Khattar Abou Diab, a political scientist at Paris-XI University, told France24.
This squad of killers is very experienced and highly trained. They are commanded by career officers and have the best weapons available in Syria. Unable to deploy on all fronts, it has been divided into several sections to supervise and direct the various law enforcement operations, Hashem told the French news network.
They are composed predominantly of Alawites, a Shiite sect representing about 10% of the Syrian population. The Alawites dominate the security apparatus and senior official positions. Assad is himself an Alawite.
Yet, the brutality of Assad’s campaign has rattled even his staunchest supporters.
Yesterday, both Russia and China approved a UN Security Council resolution demanding that Syria authorize immediate, full and unimpeded access of humanitarian personnel to all populations in need of assistance, in accordance with international law and guiding principles of humanitarian assistance,… in all areas affected by fighting and violence, including Homs, Hama, Deera and Idlib.
Not coincidentally, the Syrian government authorized the International Committee of the Red Cross to operate in the country and begin delivering humanitarian assistance.
Seven trucks carrying humanitarian aid reached Homs on Friday.
Although international pressure on Assad may thus be increasing, he will also have to contend with a resilient opposition that has no intention of backing down.
The Syrian government, due to its brutality, has the upper hand. This is a setback (the fall of Baba Amr), but it does not at all mean the downfall of the revolution. That, I am sure, is mission impossible, Rami Jarrah, a Syrian activist, head of the Activists News Association based in Cairo, told the WP.
Furthermore, the fact that Assad has succeeded in ridding Homs of the presence of foreign journalists (either by killing them or doing his utmost to do so) does not mean he will succeed in preventing the world from witnessing the brutal and abject repression of his own people.
Countless Syrian citizen journalists will continue reporting on Assad’s cruel and criminal campaign to subdue a Syrian population yearning for freedom and justice.
Javier Espinosa paid tribute to these fearless reporters, including Abu Hanin, head of Baba Amr’s makeshift media center. I never saw « journalists » so brave, he wrote in a Twitter message on Friday.
Guns and shells cannot crush that kind of courage and determination.
Assad’s days are numbered, for the Syrians have gone too far and suffered too much to surrender now…
(the photograph of blood flowing in the gutters of Baba Amr is by Javier Espinosa)
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