Syria 1st-Hand: On the Ground in Zabadani --- "We are All Prepared to Die" (Kouddous)

Claimed footage, posted Saturday, of a regime tank destroyed in Zabadani

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Seventeen months after the Syrian revolution began, the people living in this town have grown grimly accustomed to a daily routine of indiscriminate violence, of shelling from afar.

Unlike the raging street battles in the nearby capital or in Aleppo to the north, the armed struggle for strategic control of this town of 40,000 people has effectively reached a stalemate. The town is, by and large, controlled by residents and fighters with the Free Syrian Army --- which in Zabadani are made up almost entirely of local volunteers and defecting soldiers hailing from the area.

“Zabadani is largely ours, we control it,” says Khaled al-Tinnawi, a 65-year-old influential town elder. “Yes, they shell us but if they try and come in they know we are all prepared to die.”

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Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: "The Reasonable Reaction to Provocation"

2221 GMT: For several hours, activists have been reporting a security operation against the town of Taseel, in Daraa province, Syria. LCCS confirms that report, and also posts these details about the condition on the ground there.

Security forces have launched a security operation in the town since last Wednesday up until today. They launched a detention campaign where more than 50 men got arrested; one of them was Dr. Arshad Al-Qaddah. Also, a house-to-house raiding campaign of all the homes, public places in the town was launched. The pharmacies, clinics, commercial shops and private properties were subotaged amid sporadic gunfire and extensive deployment of fully-equipped security members and thugs (Shabeha). Snipers were deployed on the rooftops all around the town.

2210 GMT: Despite the daily bombardment of Homs, Syria, there have been almost nightly rallies such as these in the Qusour district, just a few blocks from some of the areas that have been intensely shelled in recent weeks:

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Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Conflict In the Capital?

An armoured anti-aircraft gun fires at unknown targets in the Damascus suburb of Douma on Saturday

See also Syria 1st-Hand Feature: So While You Were Sleeping....
James Miller speaks to Al Jazeera about the Free Syrian Army
Saturday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: More Opposition, in More Places

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1805 GMT: A Turkish court has imprisoned five people suspected of turning over Colonel Hussein Harmush, who defected and established an insurgent brigade in Turkey, to Syrian authorities.

The defendants include a member of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT). They are being investigated for “political espionage” and for deprivation of liberty of Harmush and another man who were allegedly taken from a refugee camp near the Syrian border “by force” and handed over to Syrian security forces.

In June 2011, Harmush became the first Syrian military officer to publicly declare his opposition to the Assad regime. He then established the Brigade of Free Officers.

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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, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: From Defection to Insurrection

2156 GMT: Bahraini human rights activist Said Yousif Almuhafda shares two videos, which he has described as "foreign mercenaries attacking ladies with soundbombs in manama for no reason." We're not able to confirm any of those claims, and the quality of the video makes it difficult to determine what exactly is happening.

This video, however, we can confirm was taken earlier, giving a clear impression of the size of the protest rally earlier today. Though this rally was peaceful, reports of police disrupting protests with teargas and beatings have lasted well into the night:

2136 GMT: The US State Department is preparing to close it's embassies in Syria. According to the Washington Post,

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Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The "Free Syrian Army" Makes An Impression

Women and children rally in "free" Zabadani in Syria last night (see 0740 GMT)

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2110 GMT: The Local Coordinating Committees of Syria have posted graphic, and leaked, pictures of Hussam Ahmed Naboulsy, who was reportedly tortured during interrogations in a prison in Syria after being arrested several weeks ago. Several sources close to EA have said that they believe in the validity of the report. The LCCS posted this statement:

He wasn’t charged for any crime, there are no legal cases against him. Hussam is from Banyas city and a father of 7 kids, he is facing daily all kinds of insulting, abusing and torturing. Some video clips leaked from the prison by one of the security elements that attended the investigation and filmed it. The video clips shows his face swollen, bleeding and he is daze. This records another brutal crime of the Syrian regime inside the prison while the Arab League Committee is still in Syria and supposed to be protecting people from the regime’s crimes. The Local Coordination Committees in Syria (LCC) condemning this egregious violation of the human rights and the International protocols that Syria’s government is committed to. The LCC is calling to release Hussam immediately and all the opinion detainees and carries the regime the responsibility on their safety.

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Syria 1st-Hand Video: Inside the Besieged City of Zabadani

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EA sources provide English subtitles for an interview with soldiers from the Free Syrian Army stationed in the embattled city of Zabadani, 20 miles northwest of Damascus.

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Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Liberation Near Damascus?

1954 GMT: Bahraini activists are calling for an interesting protest. Starting Thursday night, activists have called for the release of glowing "sky lanterns" across Bahrain for the next three night, part of a peacuful protest against the establishment of the 2012 Bahrain International Airshow.

EA's John Horne has also discovered this funny little video. An activist, dressed in typical "terrorist garb" gives instructions, in a high-pitched voice, on how to build these lanterns... and also, how to cook potatoes.

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Syria Special: Zabadani - The First Liberated City?

Tanks burning in a field in Madaya, near Zabadani, after being destroyed by soldiers from the Free Syrian Army

See Also, Tuesday's Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The State of the Uprising, Continued

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UPDATE: Shelling has resumed in the city of Zabadani for a 6th day, as the cease-fire has apparently broken. Please see today's live coverage for the latest details.

The broken cease-fire, however, does not erase the significance of this event. The Free Syrian Army did win a military victory, if only for a day. Even more evidence is surfacing that testifies to that fact.

This video reportedly shows a burned-out hull of a tank, allegedly destroyed by the FSA yesterday:

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