Syrians Fear Escalation in Violence

Residents of restive Syrian cities are stocking up on supplies, fearing that regime violence will escalate as international pressure mounts on President Bashar al-Assad’s embattled regime.

Activists say residents in Hama, the Aleppo governorate and Deraa are hoarding food, gas canisters and other essential goods ahead of what they fear could be a repetition of the 1982 crackdown in Hama, when the regime killed tens of thousands of people to quell an Islamist uprising

The Arab League’s suspension of Syrian membership on November 12 and Ankara’s decision to allow the opposition Syrian National Council, SNC, to open an office in Turkey have further inflamed tensions. SNC figures claim Ankara is close to officially recognising them.

More than 70 people were killed in violence across Syria on November 14, one of the bloodiest days since the anti-regime uprising began eight months ago, according to local activists and the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Around 27 civilians were shot dead by security forces while 34 government soldiers and 12 suspected army deserters were killed in clashes in Homs and Deraa. On the same day, two senior members of the military announced their defections on videos posted on YouTube.

“People fear that now – following the Arab League’s move, increased Turkish support, and further high-profile desertions from the Syrian army – the regime is left with no option but to end the protest movement as quickly as possible by destroying a whole town as it did in 1982,” a spokesperson for the Hama Local Coordinating Committee, LCC, told IWPR by phone.

The LCCs are the bodies that coordinate protests on the ground.

“We fear a real war waged against unarmed civilians is upon us in a way we have not witnessed before, and people are stockpiling whatever they can, in anticipation of a crackdown that includes tanks, planes and missiles [fired] on neighbourhoods,” the activist said, adding that the prices of basic goods were soaring as supplies ran short.

Four civilians were reportedly killed after security forces opened fire on November 14 in the city of Homs, a hub for protests in central Syria.

“Homs has been living in a state of war for four months, people already stockpiled food – diesel for heating and gas for cooking – but those supplies have diminished and the government has cut supplies to the city,” an LCC coordinator from Homs told IWPR. “People here have nothing now.”

He said bread was selling for as much as three US dollars a loaf, up from the usual 20 cents, adding that the majority of districts in Homs had been without electricity for over four days.

“People are trying to sneak supplies into various neighbourhoods, but that is dangerous with the security forces firing indiscriminately at anyone they see in the streets,” he said, adding that protesters would continue to offer peaceful resistance and would not take up arms.

Syrian army reinforcements of around 30 armoured personnel carriers and 12 tanks arrived in Homs on the morning of November 15, he said, adding that regime forces closed down the industrial district, deploying tanks and erecting checkpoints.

Activists in Mareh, a city in Aleppo governorate, say some neighbourhoods are turning away demonstrators for fear the regime will launch reprisal attacks.

“Some people are afraid that what is happening in Homs and other cities will happen to everyone who has participated in protests,” a political activist from Mareh said. “So far [the regime] has shot at us and arrested us, but fallen short of bombing us. But now people feel like they’ve made their point and any more protests could lead military assaults,” he told IWPR, adding that Aleppo governorate was already experiencing shortages of essential items.

A plan to end violence in Syria was drawn up by Arab foreign ministers on November 2 and endorsed by Damascus. Under the deal, the government was given 15 days to pull back its troops, release detainees, allow free movement for observers and media, and negotiate with the opposition. It has not implemented any of these measures.

The Arab League is now preparing to send 500 observers to Syria, but as the organisation’s chief Nabil al-Arabi said on November 14, it needs Damascus to guarantee their safety.

Syria said it would welcome the dispatch of an “Arab ministerial delegation accompanied by observers, civilian and military experts and Arab media”, according to an official statement.

Salam Hafez is an IWPR contributor.