Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Open Protest, Open Repression

Is this footage of defectors in the Syrian city of Homs, pursued by shabiha (pro-regime militia)?

See also Bahrain 1st-Hand: Protests, Tear Gas, and Night Marching
Syria Video Special: The Protests of Eid Al-Adha
Syria 1st-Hand: A Motorcycle Ride to Homs
Syria Video and Transcript: The Speech by Opposition Leader Ghalioun
Sunday's Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Launch of an Opposition?

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2021 GMT: Al Jazeera reports that 11 civilians have died today, and the Syrian opposition has asked for international support to stop the killing:

The appeal, issued by the Turkey-based Syrian National Council, came as activists reported that at least 11 people were killed across the country on Monday, including two children, in an ongoing crackdown on anti-government protesters by security forces.

Activists said that at least eight of the dead were in Homs where hundreds of residents protested against the rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, adding that government troops stormed several areas and made house-to-house arrests.

Heavy artillery clashes erupted between regime forces and presumed army defectors in Homs, activists reported, saying it was the fifth day of a "brutal siege on the brave city".

2030 GMT: Activists share this video, reportedly showing women protesting today in Douma, Syria, before the military fires shots into the air to scare them away:

2021 GMT: It might be a long night in Bahrain. An actist posts this report within the last 10 minutes, though we have no confirmation of the details:

"LITERALLY a war zone outside my place! Bang-bangs & recently a big loud BOOOOOM that shock my place, situation been on this for the past 3 hours!!

According to other reports, there are ongoing protests and clashes with police this evening.

2012 GMT: The Assad regime has chosen an interesting strategy. Having reached an agreement with the Arab League to withdraw military forces from Syrian cities, Assad is admitting that the violence is escalating; but he's blaming America. Al Jazeera reports:

Walid al-Moallem, Syria's foreign minister, meanwhile criticised the United States for urging suspected gunmen not to hand in their weapons to authorities under an amnesty offer, Syrian state media reported Monday.

"Syria considers the US call an encouragement for the armed groups to pursue their criminal acts against the Syrian people and state," state television quoted al-Moallem as saying.

According to the reports, al-Moallem made the criticism in letters to his counterparts in Russia, China, India, South Africa, Brazil and the Arab League.

In other words, the Syrian government is now writing "independent" nations of the world, including the Arab League, to ask for help to stop the crisis in Syria -- by countering the American backed revolution.

1956 GMT: The Guardian posts a disturbing video, apparently showing a dead child in Hula, Homs:

She appears to have very serious head wounds. In the background men are heard shouting and women crying.

The girl's name, says the man speaking on the footage, is Maymouna al-Sayed. He says she was martyred- or killed- today in the Houla district of Homs during heavy sniper fire.

"Are these your reforms, Bashar?" asks a man repeatedly, referring to the commitment to change the Syrian president supposedly made last week with the Arab League.

1940 GMT: An major activist in Bahrain posts this photo:

As crowd shouted down down Hamad, an upside down pic of Hamad came down & was burnt"

1923 GMT: AN EA Correspondent reports from Bahrain:

"Aldair village organized a protest today named "Al-Eid march" which got attacked by police forces. The video is taken during the attack, showing police forces tear-gassing the protesters who respondent by throwing stones, until they had to retreat due to the extensive use of the tear-gas and rubber bullets."

1914 GMT: A vibrant night protest in Sanamin, Daraa. The sign reads "Get lost." (MAP)

1906 GMT: These people are reportedly protesting near the Al-Majed mosque in the Midan district of Damascus:

1845 GMT: This dramatic video was reportedly taken in Kafer Zita, Hama, today (MAP):

1838 GMT: The Guardian posts a very interesting video, reportedly taken in Bab Amr, Homs, yesterday:

These men tell the camera they are members of the Free Syrian Army come to protect the neighbourhood from the regime, according to my colleague Mona Mahmood. The first man in uniform to speak declares that they have come to protect the protesters, and that they will "chase and destroy" regime loyalists. The second man to speak calls on the Arab League to take decisive action against the Assad regime. The video's authenticity could not be independently vouched for.

The Homs district had been playing host to a number of army defectors. They are believed to have been defending the neighbourhood against bombardment by security forces. After those forces entered Bab Amr last night, however, many of them are understood to have left.

A spokesman for the LCC said their withdrawal was because they did not want to risk civilians being caught up in the security forces' hunt for them.

1830 GMT: An activist shares this video, reportedly a major protest near the Abu Bakr Mosque in Kafar Soussa, Damascus (MAP). This is a significant protest because of its proximity to the center of the capital city:

1640 GMT: Even children wave toy guns and protest against Bashar al Assad in Homs, Syria:

1631 GMT: This video was sent to EA by a source in Bahrain, who describes the footage:

"Police thugs broke into the house of AbdulRasool Juma and arrested him after a beating him brutally in Mhaza village."

1616 GMT: The LCCS has posted video which they claim shows damage to the Kaeb Bin Muath mosque in the Bab Dreib neighborhood of Homs, reportedly after the mosque was shelled by pro-Assad military forces:

1600 GMT: Activists share this video, with a description:

RT @InterzoneRebels: Bab Amr: Homs 6.11 This house was fired on from all sides and three children were shot & injured...

1548 GMT: More impressive shows from the protesters. Large protests are reported in multiple cities. This video reportedly shows a large demonstration in Al Bayada, Homs:

Halfaya, Hama:

Ma'arrat Herma, Idlib Province (MAP):

1527 GMT: We believe that the narrator of the video says that this was taken in Saqba, a Damascus suburb that has been a focal point for resistance in recent weeks, on November 7th (today). Gunfire can be heard and smoke can be seen rising above the city:

1515 GMT: Based on our translation of the description of the video, this video reports to show smoke rising above Jabal Arafa Street in the Baba Amr district of Homs (MAP):

1500 GMT: A large and enthusiastic protest in Bosra al Harir, Daraa, Syria:

1454 GMT: The AP confirms house to house raids in the Baba Amr district of Homs (which we reported earlier), but they add a tantalizing details; the neighborhood may not have been under control of the military the entire time:

It was not immediately clear if government troops had regained control of the Baba Amr district, where the government is reportedly facing armed resistance from defectors who have taken refuge in the neighborhood and in surrounding districts.

More than 110 people have been reported killed in the past week in Homs, a city of about 800,000 that has turned into one of the main centers of protest and reprisal during the nearly 8-month-old revolt against President Bashar Assad, according to Ibrahim Hozan, a spokesman for the Local Coordination Committees activist network.

The violence comes despite claims by Syria that it is complying with an Arab League-sponsored plan to end the crackdown.

Activists said two people were killed in the city and the surrounding province on Monday, pushing the death toll from the past 24 hours to at least 18.

1407 GMT: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has two updates in the last hour. They report that an 8 year old girl and at least one other woman were killed in Al Hula, Homs. Also, a 63 year old man died from injuries he sustained yesterday in the Damascus governate.

James Miller takes the wheel.

1400 GMT: An EA source reports a protest this afternoon in Alqarya village in Bahrain. Protesters reached the main road of Sitra Island before they were turned back by security forces with tear gas.

1315 GMT: A video causing a bit of a fuss in Bahrain --- activists say its shows a funeral procession being dispersed by security forces with tear gas, an allegation denied by the Ministry of Interior:

1255 GMT: Activists and residents say Syria troops and militia have entered the Bab Amro district of Homs after six days of shelling and bombardment by tanks. They said defecting soldier who had taken refuge in Bab Amro and helped defend the neighbourhood had withdrawn and regime forces moved in overnight.

Activist Raed Ahmad said, "They are storming houses now and arresting people, but not many are left in Bab Amro. The shabiha (plainclothes militia) have brought pick-up trucks and are looting buildings."

A tank in the Khalidiya section of Homs this morning:

Video has been posted of some of those killed and wounded by fire from Syrian security forces in Homs on Sunday (Warning: Very Graphic):

1145 GMT: Demonstrations have resumed in Bahrain this morning --- video has been posted of a march in Sufala.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK0KECKiPRA&feature=colike

1045 GMT: At the instigation of Qatari Prime Minister Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the Arab League has called a crisis meeting for Saturday on the Syrian regime's failure to abide by a peace plan set out last week.

Al-Thani called for the meeting because of "the continuation of violence and because the Syrian government did not implement its commitments in the Arab plan to resolve the Syrian crisis."

The League had asked for Syrian forces to cease violence against civilians and to withdraw from cities, but shelling and attacks have continued. Activists said more tha 100 people have been slain in Homs alone in the last week.

Syria and Bahrain both offered visual drama on Sunday. In Syria, the daily pattern of protest was accentuated with the celebrations of the first day of the Muslim festival Eid al-Adha, as thousands and tens of thousands turned out to call for the fall of the Assad regime.

But the Syrian military was also present, and this video brought us clear identification of the troops firing at demonstrators in the Damascus suburb of Qaboun:

At least 13 more people reportedly died in gunfire like this across the country, but the violence did not stem the resistance. To an equally powerful image --- tens of thousands chant in Jebel al Zawiya in the northwest:

On a smaller scale, Bahrain offered similar moving images on Sunday. Security forces made clear that even a memorial procession --- in this case, for the elderly Ali Hassan Al Daih, who allegedly died after a police beating --- could not tolerated. They tried to disperse the thousands who were marching, leading to a series of skirmishes.

And that led to this moment, which is already being commemorated by activists as they try to maintain the momentum of protest. A woman stands in the road, waving a Bahraini flag as security forces approach. She remains in the road, on her knees, as those forces fire tear gas at demonstrators around her: