Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: How Many Have Died in Hama?

First video out of Hama, taken yesterday

See Also the Syria Video Special: The "God is With Us" Protests, Set 1 and Set 2 and now Set 3

Syria Video and Analysis: Who Killed These Men and Where is the River Where They Were Dumped?

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Today was a hot Friday in Ramadan, a day where traditionally people of faith fast during the day, and stay home out of the sun. Instead, in Syria, possibly 125,000 protesters, or possibly more, took to the streets. They marched, chanted, and prayed for change in their country. Those hopes were met with bullets more often than they were not.

The list of casualties today is likely to be between 15-30, not counting what happens tonight, and what happened today in Hama. Since Ramadan began last weekend, approximately half of the casualties in most of Syria have occurred at night. Regardless, today, and tonight, the Syrians are sending a clear message that the old ways will never return, and Syria will never be the same.

Meanwhile, still very little news out of Hama, and all of it bad. The city is under attack by at least 250 tanks, and their food, medicine, communication, and water supplies have been cut off. The people of the fourth largest city in Syria, a city larger than Boston, have no water. Tomorrow's forecast - 100+ degrees Fahrenheit.

And Yemen is heating up, Egyptians are still struggling with the military, the Libyan rebels still fight Gaddafi, and Bahrainis still protest. Ramadan is going to be a long, ugly, and important month.

We close with this live feed from an incredible and festive Lattakia, on Syria's coast:

We will return tomorrow morning.

2049 GMT: Yemen has been described by more than one reporter as "on the brink." The news of tribal clashes in Sana'a and an air raid against dissident Republican Guard members who refused to kill civilians (update 1758) did nothing to dispel that analysis. Here's a massive rally today in Saada:

2042 GMT: Washington Post's Liz Sly has this update:

Talked to #Hama: despite tanks and snipers, a few brave souls tried to stage a demo. They gave up after three of them were shot dead.

2035 GMT: In Kafranbel, Idlib, a dramatic video and a new chant. We've been hearing it in many of the videos we've posted. The chant, which became famous in Egypt, "The people want the fall of the regime," has been replaced.

The people want the execution of the President:

2018 GMT: Al Jazeera has this update:

The Syrian Revolution Co-ordination Union is reporting that two people were killed in Al-Midan neighborhood in Damascus this evening.

Frankly, new videos of violence are simply flooding our inbox. We expect the death toll to rise.

2010 GMT: Scott Lucas is compiling a 3rd set of videos from today. Here, plain-clothed men fire live ammunition at protesters in Douma, Damascus:

1954 GMT: We have received well over 100 (maybe closer to 200) videos from Syria today, and now videos are coming in from nighttime protests as well. We'll try to put more up when we get a breather, but for now I'm posting only the very important ones.

Like this. An injured protester near the lion'as gate in Homs is evacuated after allegedly being shot by a rooftop sniper:

1930 GMT: This video claims to show an assault on the city of Rastan, near the Al Noor Mosque:

1854 GMT: Many Egyptian activists are asking whether they reached a turning point where protests are no longer allowed by the military:

What's sad is there was no point in it this time. As far as I know it was just an iftar then go home thingy.

Does beating and arresting a bunch of people gathered to have Iftar in the square mean the Tahrir days are gone for good?

1845 GMT: Activists are reporting that the police and military have entered Tahrir Square (Cairo, Egypt) and are beating people. The main entrances are blocked, so it has become hard for many of the activists to flee the police.

1840 GMT: This is an EXTREMELY GRAPHIC video of a Syrian man, Hamza Darwish, killed by a tank shell at (we believe) the Lion's Gate in Homs.

1826 GMT: There are reports coming in from activists that protests in Tahrir Square are bing broken up by the military, and there are injuries reported. One clearly frustrated activist Tweets this: "Why doesn't SCAF get it over with and demolish the square à la Khalifa with Pearl Roundabout?"

1808 GMT: The Local Coordinating Committees of Syria have posted an eyewtiness account, which cannot be verified, coming from inside Hama. Here are some excerpts:

The number of martyrs have surpassed 300, most probably reached 400 already, most of which have been buried in Alqusoor park.

Of course there are also martyrs from the army who have been killed by security forces. I carried more than 27 bodies for soldiers, but I cannot even count the wounded. There are lots who died of light wounds because they bled to death since we have no blood in the hospitals. There are those who died after even a shot in the leg, and there is no way to get to hospitals, especially after cutting electricity from hospitals which have really crippled their operations.

We have no bread also, it's been prevented from entering 3 days ago. Security forces sabotaged food supply stores in Al-Asi square in a very evil move to prevent the people from using it. all supplies and aids that have been sent to the people of the city are not allowed to enter.

Army tanks and security snipers have invaded the city in Al-Asi square. There are 15 tanks in Al-Asi square, as well as 6 others in the citadel area accompanied by 6 BMP vehicles. Snipers are on the roofs of all tall buildings with ten on top of Abdulbaqi building and 5 over the police station. Those snipers are professionals and definitely not Syrian, we all know this and we filmed them. Tanks and snipers are ordered to shoot anyone that moves in front of them. Even animals have been shot for fun only.

Shooting still continues in Hama's southern and northern entrances. The city is also bombed from the citadel which have been occupied by the army too. Shelling reached Al-Dabagha street and many homes were destroyed, mosque minarets are also targeted.

Security agents burnt the financial administration building after sabotaging and looting the building contents. The first floor of the Justice Palace have been burnt too. They brought thugs (Shabiha) from nearby villages to insult the city people even more.

No one among us is armed, the lies of the regime are unbelievable by anyone.

1758 GMT: The situation in Yemen may be heating up dramatically as well:

After days of mounting tension in Hasaba, fights opposing the tribes and the government forces broke out in this northern neighborhood of the capital. Huge explosions were heard at 5pm, followed by a rain of gunshots. Eye witnesses are now saying that the clashes are spreading throughout the neighborhood districts of Mazda, Giraf and the area near the airport road.

With defected General Ali Mohsen’s base being only a few kilometers, residents now fear that Mohsen’s men will intervene, engulfing Sana’a in it largest conflict yet.

“When we saw the numbers of tanks in our street this morning, we decided to leave our house….I cannot risk living through another round of shelling,” said Gameela a school teacher.

However, the latest reports have the situation even more severe. According to the Yemen Post, more than 200 Republican Guard members were killed by air strikes when they refused to attack civilians:

A senior security official in Arhab district, 40 kilometer northeast of the capital Sana’a, said that governmental warplanes attacked governmental soldiers who refused to fight pro revolution tribes in the district.

The official said that more than 240 republican guard forces in Sama’e region of Arhab refused to attack tribes with heavy artillery and were negotiating with them on surrendering the Sama’e military base of the republican guards.

In retaliation, government air forces attacked the gates of the camp killing more than 200 republican guards and at least three-dozen fighters.

>p>“The government did not stand quiet when the guards refused orders to clash with tribes and officials in the republican guards felt it was necessary that those who disobey orders are killed,” the official said.

“The guards who surrendered did not want to attack their own people. They were killed for giving the blood of Yemenis value,” he concluded.

Eyewitnesses in Arhab confirmed the incident and the attack but gave higher death tolls on the tribes and guards lines.

1746 GMT: A report from an activist, the details of which match other accounts:

Homs: Martyrdom of Hamza Darweesh by artillery shelling of Marija, dozens hurt in Adawia & Bab Sbaa which is shelled from diff. sides

1733 GMT: Al Arabiya is reporting that their sources say over 250 tanks assault the city of Hama, Syria's 4th largest city.

1728 GMT: The Libyan opposition fighters have started to lose hope that they will be able to rapidly advance on Tripoli from the Western Mountains. Hampered by lack of weapons and supplies, and facing the Grad rockets and heavy weaponry of Gaddafi's forces, their advance has all but halted in the last week.

“Gaddafi’s forces will cut us down if we try to advance,” said 22-year-old rebel Mahmoud Abdullah, a student who was inside a tent.

“At first we thought we could advance to Tripoli in a few days or a week.. But there is no way it can happen quickly. Gaddafi’s forces are so organised. They often move around at night and flash their car lights as signals. It’s hard to predict their movements.”

1704 GMT: Turning now to Libya, activists calling themselves the "Tripoli News Revolution" have posted disturbing video, which they claim shows civilians executed and thrown in a mass grave by pro-Gaddafi forces. We are unsure where the video was taken, or when, but it was posted today.

1658 GMT: A new video from Homs, where one person is reportedly killed. The video is shaky, but it appears to show a protester who has been shot in the arm, or hand, in Khalidaya today.

1648 GMT: Back from a quick break to find this video. The description of the video is that security is "kidnapping" a martyr, Mohammed Jaber, in Al Madimyah, Damascus. Approciamtely 2 minutes into the video, security turns a corner, carrying a blood-stained man who is either dead or very seriously injured:

1558 GMT: Activist Malath Aumran reports that the cituation in Homs has become very serious:

Heavy shooting in Bab Sbaa and Bab dreib. Explosions have been heard in the area. Tanks are being concetrated now at Farabi School in the neighborhood of Sbaa.

The Local Coordinating Committees of Syria adds, "Heavy gunfire from various types of machine guns while security forces try to storm the neighborhood from the direction of Farabi School."

1549 GMT: We're looking for a more specific location for this video, but the description says "Information Office of the Ahrar Party, Damascus." (UPDATE: LCCS says this is Douma, Damascus)

1536 GMT: According to the Syrian Revolution Co-ordination Union, over 125,000 Syrians have taking part in Friday's protests across the country. The SRCU estimates that 70,000 have taken to the streets of Deir Ez Zor, and 30,0090 have marched today in Homs.

1529 GMT: A leading protester, Ahmed Sayed Mohamed, member of the Arab-European Center for Human Rights and International Law, was sentenced to two years in prison by a judge in Assiut.

Mohamed was sentenced on Aug. 3 for inciting people to protest and assaulting the head of the City Council in Dakhla, located in El-Wadi El-Gedid governorate, according to a statement from the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI)...

In the statement, ANHRI said it strongly condemns the continued trials of activists in military courts under false allegations for their efforts in political and democratic reform in Egypt.

ANHRI’s statement added that this threatens the January 25 Revolution.

Mohamed was arrested on June 20 as he was collecting complaints of Dakhla residents who have been protesting at the City Council, the statement said. He has been working on the administrative corruption file in the governorate.

1524 GMT: We turn now to Egypt. Ahram News has posted a picture gallery and news article about the military's efforts to block a symbolic funeral for a protester, Mohamed Mohsen Ahmed, who was killed on July in the Abbasiya district of Cairo.

Central Security Forces and Military Police blocked protesters on their way to Tahrir Square in a symbolic funerary march of the first martyr of the Abbassiya clashes, the latest casualty of the revolution. Protesters were relatively small in number and had not managed to enter the square.

1500 GMT: Two VERY important videos. The first shows security, and potentially plain-clothed Assad supporters, firing at close range at protesters in Arbeen (Irbeen) Damascus(the video is shaky, for obvious reasons, but it supports the reports that between 4 and 10 people were killed in that neighborhood today).

This video, claiming to have been taken today, shows tanks and soldiers firing into the city of Hama. A second, less distinct video, claims to show a morning attack on the city as well.

1451 GTM: Heavy security presence deploying in Quatana (or Katana), Homs, just west of Damascus (Map):

1426 GMT: Multiple casualty reports to keep up with. According to Al Jazeera, "Two members of the Syrian security forces were killed and eight were injured in an ambush on Maarat al-Nuaman-Khan Shaikoun road, Syria's state TV reports." Also, 3 people have been shot dead in Nawa near Deraa, and fresh protests there are anticipated within the hour.

There are conflicting reports from Arbeen, the outskirts of Damascus, where activists had reported that 10 were killed, but Al JAzeera is reporting 5 were killed and the Guardian is reporting that 4 were killed.

The Local Coordinating Committee is also reporting at least 8 killed in Syria today, including 1 person in Homs:

The death toll in Syria today has now reached eight, the Local Co-ordinating Committees of Syria, which organise and report on protests, are reporting on their Facebook page. Seven were killed in Arbeen, Damascus, including a 15-year-old, and one in Homs, where armed military vehicles shot "in the protesters' direction" to disperse them, they say. "Reports about martyrs in Kanaker and Madaya [two suburbs of Damascus] are not true." There was "random shooting" by the security forces in Arbeen, they say. Demonstrators responded to the shooting by throwing stones.

They have also posted pictures of what they say are snipers on a rooftop in Deraa. The LCC reports "huge demonstrations" in Deraa, setting off from several mosques and merging in the town centre.

1405 GMT: The BBC has posted video from Syrian State TV, showing the regime's version of events in Hama. What few scenes we see, the Assad government is basically showing blood stains and rubble, then showing video of "armed thugs," (who could be protesters or Assad loyalists), and claiming that they have killed military personnel and are responsible for this violence.

1359 GMT: Our video entry is up and running, and we will update it as videos keep pouring in.

1334 GMT: We're literally sorting through dozens of videos taken today, but the bottom line is that thousands of activists have taken to the streets in Homs, Deir Ezzor, multiple cities in Idlib province, and in Damascus and its suburbs as well. We'll have a video entry up soon. Hama is still in an information black hole (aside from the two important videos we've posted below), but we will continue to monitor.

In the meantime, the New York Times is also reporting that there may have been hundreds of casualties in Hama over a 24 hour period, and they have a new report of defections in Deir Ez Zor:

Syrian security forces also shelled the city of Deir Al-Zour in northeastern Syria on Thursday night into Fiday morning. On Tuesday, 30 soldiers, including five officers, defected from the army according to Ali Othman, an activist with the Local Coordination Committees. Mr. Othman said they joined a unit of 26 soldiers who defected last month and called themselves “The Movement of Free Officers”.

1312 GMT: More video from last night, this one taken in Homs, 60th street, where gunshots ring on through the night air.

This video has moved to the Syria Video Special: The "God is With Us" Protests, Set 1

1305 GMT:Very important video. These are the first videos we've seen that claim to be taken yesterday in Hama. We have no way to verify them, but two things to consider: If this video was taken elsewhere, it doesn't match reports from yesterday. If it was taken earlier, why has footage this good been kept quiet? It is our educated guess that these two videos are legitimate:

1258 GMT: Journalist Jenan Moussa has this update on Syria:

Activists: News that at least 10 dead in Damascus countryside of Arbeen.

1254 GMT: Al Jazeera has this update:

Activists told Al Jazeera that residents of Deir ez-Zoor are fleeing the city for fear of a wide military operation soon. Reports also say that gunfire has injured severeal people in Arbeen on the outskirts of the capital. And witnesses say army gunfire has wounded an unknown number of people in the Douma area of Damascus.

1235 GMT: James Miller takes the reins...

The first note of the day is a bit of perspective. Despite the fact that it is now mid afternoon in Syria(03:35 EEST), 7 hours ahead of my time zone, I don't have a single update in my inbox about Hama. Hama is a city of more than 700,000 people. To put things in perspective, it is almost 100,000 people larger than Washington, D.C., it is larger than Detroit, and it is larger than Boston. Imagine if the military began to shell Boston with tanks, and they had it so locked up that almost no information from the city of Boston was getting out.

That is the scale of the situation in Hama, Syria.

1135 GMT: A Libyan regime spokesman has denied opposition claims that Khamis Qaddafi, the son of the Libyan leader, has been in a NATO airstrike on Zlitan, east of Tripoli see 1030 GMT). The spokesman said the assertion was "dirty tricks" by the insurgency.

1130 GMT: More protest images from Syria --- Midan in Damascus:

Harasta outside Damascus:

This video has moved to the Syria Video Special: The "God is With Us" Protests, Set 1

Horan in the south:

This video has moved to the Syria Video Special: The "God is With Us" Protests, Set 1

Homs

This video has moved to the Syria Video Special: The "God is With Us" Protests, Set 1

1120 GMT: As reports come in of protests across Syria, we get the first claimed video of "God Is With Us" protests --- a demonstration in Herak near Daraa in the south:

This video has moved to the Syria Video Special: The "God is With Us" Protests, Set 1

And Deir Ez Zor in northeast:

These videos have moved to the Syria Video Special: The "God is With Us" Protests, Set 1

1050 GMT: The Syrian state news agency SANA reports, "Army units are working to restore security and stability to the city of Hama and open roads and remove the barriers erected by the armed terrorist organizations." It says images on Syrian state TV confirm "devastation" in the city, caused as "armed groups" attacked and killed members of the security forces.

1045 GMT: An anti-regime protest today in Al Baida in Yemen calls for protest until victory:

1040 GMT: Little news so far from Hama. One resident said shelling had resumed: "They are hitting al-Hader district and neighbourhoods around the Aleppo road. Electricity is still cut off."

1030 GMT: The hot story on the Internet is the claim of the opposition that Khamis Qaddafi, the son of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, has been killed in a NATO airstrike on the western city of Zlitan.

Mohammed Zawawi, a spokesman for the insurgents, said Khamis --- the commander of the elite 32nd Brigade --- was among 32 people killed in the strike.

A NATO official said he was aware of the report; however, "we cannot confirm anything right now, because we don't have people on the ground, but we are trying to find out what we can.

Libyan state media said a mother and her two young sons were killed by the strikes on Zlitan.

NATO's regular operational media update said 44 "strike sorties" were flown on Thursday. Targets included an "ammunition storage facility", a "military facility", two multiple rocket launchers, and one surface-to-air missile system in Zlitan, as well as two "military facilities" in Tripoli and 11 targets in other areas.

There was also a claim in March of Khamis Qaddafi's death by an airstrike or a suicide pilot who flew his plane into the Qaddafi compound in Tripoli.

0910 GMT: Thomas Lippmann offers a significant revelation in The Washington Post about the constraints on the US approach towards the Bahraini regime:

US defense ties to Bahrain were formalized in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War, in which Bahrain supported the United States. Washington and Bahrain signed a 10-year defense agreement in 1991. The pact was renewed for another 10 years in 2001, a schedule that would have brought it up for renewal in October....

One might think this would have been an important agenda item when President Obama met with Bahrain’s crown prince, Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, in June. But nothing was said.

That, it turns out, is because President George W. Bush and Bahrain’s regime in 2002 secretly added five years to the defense pact’s term, extending its expiration date to October 2016. There have been no renewal negotiations because none have been needed.

The terms of the extension have never been made public. The agreement’s existence is classified. Not even Congressional Research Service analysts, who write detailed reports for Congress and often have access to classified material, were aware. A comprehensive CRS report on the situation last month said flatly that the defense pact would be up for renewal in October. In effect, White House secrecy on this issue put the research service in the position of reporting misleading information to Congress.

0810 GMT: The nightly ritual of protests in Bahrain continues --- footage from Sitra:

Three clips from Thursday in Bani Jamra:

And clashes in Abu Saiba:

0530 GMT: We had struggled all day to get news from Hama, Syria's fourth-largest city which has now been occupied by the military and almost cut off from communication with the outside world, but then this came through from The Guardian:

Activist group Avaaz has issued a statement saying 109 people have been killed today in Hama, Syria, as the crackdown continues there, citing a "medical source". The bodies that have come to al-Hourani hospital were shot at close range and mostly in the head, Avaaz says.

And then a glimpse inside the city from Arwa Damon of CNN:

Speaking to a Hama resident by satellite phone. She says she had to "slink along walls [to] avoid snipers, saw corpses in street, wounded [are] dying" in hospital because the power has been cut off. She says people he knew tried to leave the city to get food and were shot by Syrian security forces.

Even EA's James Miller, who is close to unflappable as he runs this LiveBlog, was shaken: "109 today? That's insane." Then he gathered himself to put this challenging summary:

If the math is even close to accurate, then 130-160 people have died in the last two days in Hama. That would put the body count at well over 300 for the week, with high estimates ranging to 500. That does not count the missing, or the arrested, or the wounded. The numbers, even if exaggerated by 25 or 50 percent, are staggering.

And so, on another protest Friday, we have this juxtaposition. Each death in other Syrian cities is bringing dramatic footage of funerals turned into anti-regime marches. Only yesterday, as the regime tried to silence Hama, there were videos --- including from the capital Damascus --- of mass rallies.

But in Hama, the reports that are sneaking out indicate that the dead are not even being buried --- it is not possible to do so without risk of becoming another victim. 

And so --- even as James Miller tries to sort out another Hama-related mystery, from earlier this week, of videos of bodies thrown from a bridge --- we peer into the dark: how many have died in Hama? And how many might die today?