23 March 2011 - 0415 CDT: The Omari mosque in downtown Daraa, Syria has been used since Friday by protesters who have been calling for the release of 15 children arrested on March 6th. The children—all under 17—were arrested for writing anti-government slogans on school walls. As the number of supporters grew into the thousands by Tuesday, military forces began firing tear gas and live ammunition to disperse the crowds.
By 8pm local time the city was surrounded by Syrian military forces after government officials had "given the protesters until three in the morning to end the sit-in." Just after 3am early Wednesday morning, Syrian military entered the area near the makeshift hospital to confront the crowds. Video reportedly from the area just outside of the mosque shows unarmed civilians fleeing from the sounds of nearby gunfire and explosions. Along with reports of phone service being unavailable in the area around the Omari mosque, government officials have admitted to cutting power to the city. Other reports also claim the Syrian military prevented ambulance access to the mosque where there are reports of injuries and up to 6 deaths of protesters and doctors.
The newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi reports Syrian officials sent security forces to encounter an “armed gang” at the Omari mosque. According to the officials, the gang had attacked an ambulance and killed at least two before security forces near the scene intervened and made arrests—bringing the death toll to 11 since Friday. Syrian officials went on by saying “the security forces will continue to pursue armed gangs that terrorize civilians.”
Protests have been occurring in the country west of Iraq since late January after the self-immolation of Hasan Ali Akleh. By February 5th, hundreds of protesters gathered in Hasan's hometown in northeast Syria and called for the departure of president Bashar al-Assad. Protests soon spread to the city of Damascus as they gained thousands of supporters and resulted in dozens of arrests. Due to an emergency law enacted in 1963, any anti-government organization is illegal in Syria as result of ongoing war with Israel.
This is the third major uprising in the past 35 years. Many protesters in Daraa fear a repeat of the Hama Massacre of February 1982, when tens of thousands of Syrian civilians and soldiers were killed in a failed uprising against president Hafiz al-Assad. There was also Damascus Spring, a pro-democracy group which began summer 2000 after the death of al-Assad. Damascus Spring looked to discuss matters between different smaller groups which included democratic, communist, and Ba'athist views in hopes of political reform. However, Hafiz al-Assad's son and successor Bashar al-Assad quickly suppressed Damascus Spring months later with the arrests of several key figures.
-MDS
-MDS
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