A Massacre in Dariya
While the Islamic Republic of Iran hosts a non-aligned nations meeting in Tehran, promising to bring peace to Syria in honour of the Republic's critical relationship with that civil-war-torn country, the violence between the regime and the rebels continues to grew increasingly more brutal. Syrian soldiers stormed the town of Dariya on the weekend, and it's estimated that well over 300 people, rebels and civilians, women and children, perished in the attack.As-yet-unverified claims by the rebels insist that over 200 bodies, most of whom were those killed "execution-style" have been discovered in houses and basements in the town. Dariya has been a rebel holdout, and its status brought it to the position of being stormed by government troops after being encircled by the military and bombarded in a foreboding taste of the full frontal attack to come.
In Dariya's Abu Suleiman al Darani mosque, where men involved in the conflict had gone for haven, 80 corpses were videoed in neat lines covered with shrouds, some with gunshot wounds to the head, chest, and torso. "Assad forces' vengeance on Dariya, 150 bodies in this mosque alone", claimed the voice of an activist on the video.
"Tanks surrounded the area and before they engaged on the ground they bombarded (the town) from the air very hard for several hours. In this kind of situation normally people gather in safe places like a mosque or basement. When the Syrian forces arrived they killed everyone", stated Fires Ramim Toreefi, a rebel organizer in Antalya, Turkey.
Opposition rebels claim to have found 310 bodies in Dariya, and another 120 in other parts of Syria under attack, all since Friday, the day after United Nations' military monitors left the country, with their hopeless mandate concluded. President al-Assad denied his military had anything to do with this latest atrocity.
"The Syrian people will not allow this conspiracy to achieve its objectives. What is happening now is not only directed at Syria but the whole region. Because Syria is the cornerstone, foreign powers are targeting it so their conspiracy succeeds across the entire region."
And, according to the country's official state news agency: "Our heroic armed forces cleansed Dariya from remnants of armed terrorist groups who committed crimes against the sons of the town." The "terrorists", the news agency stated, carried out their own massacre for the very specific purpose of inciting the international community to take action against President al-Assad, to injure Syria and break it of its will.
And while Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is lending credence to Iran's support of the Syrian regime by his appearance at the Tehran meeting of the non-aligned nations, he has also been forced to call an enquiry into the killings of civilians in Dariya, perhaps bringing attention to the Shabiya who will most certainly be on the receiving end of like punishment when, as will most certainly occur, the regime falls.
Rebels from the Free Syrian Army had one reason for celebration in the midst of all the fearsome news of deaths, when they claimed to have shot down a military helicopter as they fought against the regime's army in a new front opened in east Damascus.
Labels: Conflict, Iran, Syria, United Nations
posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, August 28, 2012
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