Syria Video Special: This is What Assad Calls "Withdrawing"

Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 19:02
James Miller in Bashar al Assad, Deir Ez Zor, EA Middle East and Turkey, Homs, Latakia, Lattakia, Middle East and Iran, Syria, Tanks, civilians, withdraw

Even as the Syrian government, and the Syrian State Television channel SANA, were claiming that the soldiers and tanks were pulling out of Lattakia and Deir Ez Zor, we started to receive video of tanks repositioning to other locations, most notably Homs. Now, there are reports that most of the troops and tanks have not left Deir Ez Zor or Lattakia.

Is this what Assad calls "withdrawal?"

See Also, Syria, Libya (and Beyond) Liveblog: Pulling Out of Deir Ez Zor?

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Once again, every night since the start of Ramadan, protests are reported in almost every area of Syria:

Jobar, Damascus:

Al Korah, Deir Ez Zor:

The city of Idlib:

Aleppo:

Night protests in Homs, despite the heavy security presence and casualties that were reported during the day:

Heavy security deploying to the streets of Jableh, anticipating protests in solidarity with Lattakia:

The reports of violence continue, the reports of arrests continue, and the protests continue despite it all. This video claims to show a general strike in Jableh, on the coast, in solidarity with Lattakia:

A protest in Hama today, before breaking the fast:

Evening protests in Al Bukamal, on the eastern border with Iraq:

Soldiers break into a shop in Hama. The video claims that they were looting the store:

Tanks deploying this morning in Homs:

Soldiers and tanks positioned inside Homs later today:

Homs seems to be the focal point for some of the heaviest handed tactics in recent days. This video was clearly taken by a soldier. It claims to show a Syrian soldier firing a machine gun into the city of Homs on August 14th. Why would a soldier take such a video? Activists have informed us that some people are paying soldiers for videos that document their military actions.

Lattakia has been under siege for multiple days, and we're just now getting some better video of what took place in the streets there. This first video, claiming to have been taken on the 14th, shows wounded a man who is toed to safety because the other people in the street are too afraid to go get him:

We don't see who wounded the man, but this video, claiming to have been taken a day later, on the 15th, shows civilians fleeing gunfire:

We'll continue to collect videos, both from today and from the past week, as we find them.

Article originally appeared on EA WorldView (http://www.enduringamerica.com/).