Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: "When You Shut Your Eyes, The Sting is Still There"
Friday, December 23, 2011 at 10:34
Tear Gas Cloud on Thursday Night in Abu Saiba in Bahrain
1035 GMT: Al-Manar, the TV channel of Lebanon's Hezbollah, is reporting 30 dead and 55 wounded from this morning's two bombs outside state security buildings in Damascus.
1030 GMT: Video has been posted of a march outside a mosque in Duraz in Bahrain after the Friday prayer, with the crowds protesting the demolition of Shia places of worship by the regime.
1020 GMT: AFP reports on dozens of wounded Syrians being smuggled into Lebanon daily via secret routes established by the Free Syrian Army. The injured are taken in by Lebanese who have set up makeshift clinics.
1015 GMT: Numbers in Tahrir Square in Cairo are reportedly low this morning, with hundreds in front of the stage listening to the Friday Prayer sermon.
0935 GMT: Syrian State TV says several civilians and soldiers have been killed in the two bombings in Damascus. It is airing footage of victims being transferred to ambulances and shots of dead people and damaged buildings.
0925 GMT: Activists on Twitter have reported two large explosions in the Kfarsouseh area of the Syrian capital Damascus this morning, with the blasts heard several kilometres away in Barzeh. One activist says there are sounds of gunfire and ambulance sirens in the Muhajreen area in the north of the city.
State TV has reported two attacks by "terrorist" suicide bombers with cars filled with explosives. It continued, "Initial enquiries hold Al-Qaeda responsible."
Witnesses say a car tried to ram its way into a State Security compound, while another car exploded in front of a security service building in the same area.
0705 GMT: In Syria, seven Arab League officials have arrived to prepare for the entry of observers next week. There was no significant news around their mission; meanwhile, activists on Thursday reported that at least 23 people, including 14 in Homs and six in Idlib, were slain by security forces.
The number was a decrease in the death toll earlier this week, possibly because the regime military had established its presence across Idlib Province --- particularly in Jabal al-Zawiya, where scores of people were reportedly killed on Monday and Tuesday --- in the northwest. Al Jazeera English's Zeina Khodr reported, from the words of an activist, "According to this activist, Jabal al-Zawiya is under the total control of the Syrian army. Many people have fled the area. They are taking shelter in fields in that province. [Residents] were not able to escape into Turkey because the Syrian army beefed up its presence along the border."
0640 GMT: On Wednesday night, EA's Josh Shahryar wrote a feature highlighting the demonstrations and clashes across Bahrain. Yesterday morning, we noted the waywardness of the headline "Protest Re-Emerges", given that it had never gone away.
Both seem doubly appropriate this morning. Bahrain was marked, indeed covered, on Thursday morning by protests and the now-standard response by the security forces, tear-gassing not only the public spaces but houses where they think demonstrators may be hiding to escape the effects of the toxic gas.
Bahraini journalist Amira Al Husseini wrote last night, "When you shut your eyes, the sting is still there." Dr Fatima Haji sent the message, "I have severe abdominal pain and vomitting. This is not tear gas!!! What toxins you are using??!!!"
There is likely to be an escalation beyond this now-established ritual. An EA correspondent, checking a video report of protesters throwing Molotov cocktails at police, noted, "The 14 February Coalition issued a statement two days ago [Tuesday]. They insisted that the protests must be peaceful but, due to the increase of police brutality on the last weeks people have the right to defend themselves in any possible way."
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