Syria Feature: Asking Again, "Will Aleppo Rise?" (BSyria)

Students demonstrate at Aleppo University on Thursday

See also Syria Feature: Will Aleppo Rise? (27 June 2011)

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Aleppo's dismal reputation among Syria's revolutionaries is slowly changing. The regime's hold on the city has been increasingly challenged: Recent Fridays have witnessed sizeable protests, and the residents of the lower-income neighborhoods of Fardous, Marjeh, and Sakhour are taking to the streets regularly.

Aleppo is also becoming increasingly violent. Assad's security forces shot dead 13 people in the city last Friday, according to local activists -- on par with the number of fatalities in other hotspots. On Feb. 10, twin car bombings targeting Aleppo's Military Intelligence bureau killed 28 people. The growing Free Syrian Army presence in the areas around the city is also making it hard for Aleppo to remain a bystander to the revolution.

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Syria Special: Points to Consider When Arming an Opposition

The Free Syrian Army in Idlib Province

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A no-fly zone, one that targets Assad's tanks and artillery --- even if it is only over parts of the country --- would diminish the threat that the Syrian military poses to both the civilian population and the Free Syrian Army. That no-fly zone would provide for transport of humanitarian aid into(and possibly injured civilians out of) the country. This area would also become a base of operations for the Free Syrian Army to gather strength without fear of reprisal from the air or from the ground. Most importantly, this option would introduce little in the way of additional weapons. In effect, a no-fly zone, one that also targeted the heavy weaponry of the Assad regime, would allow Syrians to determine Syria's fate.

This would be no small task, and would likely amount to open war with the Assad regime. However, arming the opposition, without supporting it from the air, would also sentence thousands or tens of thousands of soldiers --- on both sides of the conflict --- to their deaths without effectively dismanteling Assad's primary threat and without supplying safe harbour for civilians caught in the crossfire.

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Syria Audio Special: A Resident of Homs Speaks to EA Worldview

James Miller speaks to an activist in the Inshaat district of Homs in Syria, amidst gunfire and a shaky Skype connection:

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"Hello, James? Can you hear me? Yes, I am in Homs, and I'm alive."

Sammy (SamsonHoms on Twitter) lives in the Inshaat district of Homs. He connects to the Internet through a network attached to a satellite, but the connection; it is extremely unstable, leading to frequent breaks in conversation. Sammy is charging his laptop every chance he gets, because his neighborhood only has power between three and four hours a day. Some neighbourhoods, such as Baba Amr, are in worse shape for electricity and communications.

Sammy reports that Homs was heavily shelled last night and this morning, perhaps the worst attack in weeks. Baba Amr, right next to Inshaat, has been hardest hit. As Sammy describes it, Baba Amr has been first in everything --- the first area to protest, the home of the largest protests early in the uprising, the site of a major military campaign in May, and the home of the Free Syrian Army since September or October. For this, it is paying the price.

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Syria Analysis: The Changing Face of a Guerrillla War

See also Syria Feature: Who are the Free Syrian Army?
Syria Opinion: Who Are the Real Opposition?

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This is another important trend about the increasingly asymmetrical tactics of the Free Syrian Army --- they do not not require national or regional leadership. Each local FSA militia seems to be coordinating their own attacks, and each is doing so with different levels of restraint. In Homs, there are dark rumours that FSA units have resorted to kidnapping and torture of their own. As the crisis deepens, the Free Syrian Army will be forced to conduct more asymmetrical warfare, not less, which will further divorce the local militias from any sort of command structure.

Unless foreign intervention, even if limited, takes place, expect more ambushes and more IED attacks, and expect the regime to react to those attacks by shelling more cities.

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Syria Feature: Who are the Free Syrian Army? (Rosen)

Defecting Syrian troops in Saraqeb, Idlib Province, 12 February 2012

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Al Jazeera: Who are the armed opposition?

Nir Rosen: The formation of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) was declared publicly in the summer of 2011, and has been endorsed by the Syrian National Council, the main opposition bloc. While many in the media trying to cover Syria from outside refer to it as an entity with a leader based in Turkey, there is no central or unified leadership for the armed revolution.

The FSA is a name endorsed and signed on to by diverse armed opposition actors throughout the country, who each operate in a similar manner and towards a similar goal, but each with local leadership. Local armed groups have only limited communication with those in neighbouring towns or provinces - and, moreover, they were operating long before the summer.

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Syria Opinion: Who Are the Real Opposition? (Idaf)

Syrian National Council, December 2011Syrians who want a solution should focus on channeling their energy towards reducing the impact of the fall of the regime rather than supporting the Syrian National Council/Free Syrian Army or supporting the regime out of fear of the “FSA”, the Islamists or the militants. Everyone should stop simply forcing the Syrians to chose between the Regime or SNC/FSA/Islamists. These are not the only options. Far from it.

They are multiple movements shaping and reshaping on weekly basis. Most activists are learning and maturing with time. They change their views and jump from one group to another according to events and developments. When one’s friend or family gets detained or killed, they move from peaceful to supporting violence. When you argue with those supporting violence they change their mind, etc. The movements are in constant change but you can notice the fast organic maturity.

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James Miller speaks to Al Jazeera about the Free Syrian Army

See Also, Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Conflict In the Capital?
Syria Video Feature: How Can You Get News Out of the Country? (Al Jazeera English)

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EA Worldview's US Editor James Miller was interviewed by Al Jazeera's Meenakshi Ravi for an episode of The Listening Post. The topic was the Free Syrian Army's emergence into media and propaganda, and the realities of covering the crisis in Syria.

Other guests included Foreign Policy editor David Kenner, Al Jazeera correspondent Anita McNaught, and author Marwan Kraidy.

Also featured in the programme is a story about the media in Bahrain, and a feature on a video game that simulates war reporting.

Syria Video Special: The Shelling of Homs, Days 5 and 6

A call for help from Sheikh Ra'ed Al-Juri in Baba Amr in Homs, asking when the killing will stop

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Just weeks ago, the Syrian regime was losing territory at an alarming rate to the insurgents of the Free Syrian Army. Last Friday, the FSA captured some key checkpoints and many pro-Assad soldiers.

Five days later, after a ruthless bombardment by regime forces, several hundreds are dead.

The military assault is designed to send messages. To the citizens of Syria, they are being warned that their support of the opposition and the Free Syrian Army is not acceptable and will be punished with extreme prejudice. To the insurgents, the message is simple is that you cannot win, for you are alone. To the members of the Syrian military, the message is defect, and this is the fate you will meet.

The question is, who is listening? The protests, even in Homs, continued on Wednesday. There were yet more reports of defections, particularly in Idlib Province in the northwest. Despite the onslaught, there is defiance is the voices of many, people who no longer believe they have any choice but to fight. For in this Syria, innocent bystanders can just as easily be killed by artillery shells as members of the armed resistance.

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Syria Snap Analysis: What the Massacre in Homs Means

Dany Abdul Daym talks to CNN while shells fall in Homs

See also Syria 1st-Hand Video: Inside Homs Before the Massacre
Syria Video Special: The Dead, Dying, and Injured in Homs
Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Hundreds Dead in Homs as Regime Strikes

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Last night, after two days of relative calm, there were reports that the Free Syrian Army had won some key positions in the Bayada district in northern Homs and captured perhaps 75 regime soldiers. There have also been reports of several major defections in the area, and despite a week of losses, the opposition had used a few captured armoured vehicles to score strategic victories. It appeared that the FSA was still standing its ground.

By this morning, as many as 300, or perhaps even more, were dead in Homs. Wholesale shelling of the city has reportedly flattened whole neighbourhoods, including a major hospital. The shelling lasted 12 straight hours, and reports of violence continue, with more than 60 killed on Saturday. There are also assertions that a major military convoy is headed to Zabadani.

The Syrian regime is trying to remind the world, the United Nations, its people, and members of its own military that it is still powerful and capable of holding control over its own territory.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Hundreds Dead in Homs as Regime Strikes

Sounds of the overnight assault on Homs

See also Syria Snap Analysis: What the Massacre in Homs Means
Syria 1st-Hand Video: Inside Homs Before the Massacre
Syria Video Special: The Dead, Dying, and Injured in Homs
Friday's Egypt, Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Triple Feature of Protest

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2140 GMT: Bahrainis have met in the forum of the "Bahrain Debate" to try and find a political accommodation.

Eyad Ebrahim, one of the organiser, said, Everybody is worried. We don't want to see violence on the streets, from police or civilians. We want people to be able to talk freely and express their opinions. We need to move beyond this social tension because even if we have a political problem, there is no need for the community to disintegrate."

"A fundamental solution to the political problem is needed to end the vicious circle," said Omar Al Shehabi, who heads the Gulf Centre for Policy Studies, citing unrest going back decades. "I don't know any home or family that has not been affected or had someone imprisoned. All parts of the population need to have a role in writing the constitution. The constitution of 2002 was written behind closed doors."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/04/us-bahrain-dialogue-idUSTRE8130OM20120204

2116 GMT: Claimed footage of the regime troops captured by the Free Syrian Army in the Khalidiya and Bayada sections of Homs:

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