Sketchy reports from Daraa, Syria

A growing number of tweets show signs of a possible massacre at a mosque by Syrian forces

23 March 2011 – 00:05 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 6^th. The children—all under 15—were arrested for writing anti-government slogans on school walls. As the number of supporters grew into the thousands by Tuesday, security forces began firing tear gas and live ammunition to disperse the crowds.

By 8pm the city was surrounded by Syrian security forces. Just after 2am early Wednesday morning, they stormed the mosque and opened fire while close to 2,000 protesters slept. These forces have since been preventing ambulances to the mosque where there are reports of injuries and anywhere from 4 to 6 deaths.

Protests have been occurring in the country west of Iraq since late January after the self-immolation of Hasan Ali Akleh. By February 5^th, 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, gaining thousands of supporters and resulting in dozens of arrests.

While there have been reports of violence and arrests, news from Daraa is the first to include fatalities since Hasan Ali Akleh. In an interview with ABC's Jess Hill, former Syrian political prisoner Mohammed al-Abdullah says “[t]omorrow you are going to witness thousands—hundreds of thousands—protesting,” and that the government will soon “lose any control.” The stability of the protests, however, is still uncertain since no major international networks are reporting on these events and all of my sources are only a growing number of third/fourth-hand accounts...

...but regardless, I'll try my darnedest to follow it.


23 March 2011 - 0200 CDT: More news is coming from Al Jazeera, BBC, NYT, CNN, et. al. concerning the clash between military forces and protesters in Daraa, Syria. 


Arabic-language videos are surfacing online which show what appear to be groups of 5 to 7 armed men standing a few blocks away from protesters. Panic spreads as shouting begins, followed bright flashes and sounds of gunfire as the protesters run for cover. No return fire is heard. I'm not quite sure how to get that translated beyond waiting on the major news networks. (http://youtu.be/B91tAQaH7zk)

Power has been cut to the city and phone service in the area around the Omari mosque, which was being used as a makeshift hospital. At least one doctor has been killed in an attack by the Syrian army. The time of the attack is now estimated to have been closer to 0330 Syrian local (2030 CDT) and involved live rounds as well as explosives.

Still nothing live from CNN, msnbc, FoxNews, or AJE. However, I'm still digging...

-MDS