- Global Voices - https://globalvoices.org -

Syria: Tanks Enter Hama on Eve of Ramadan

Categories: Middle East & North Africa, Syria, Human Rights, Politics, Protest, War & Conflict

This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011 [1].

On the eve of Ramadan, Syrian troops have entered the city of Hama [2], reportedly killing as many as 45 [3] people by 11:00 am on Sunday, July 31. The assault has particular resonance for Syrians, as the city of Hama was the site of one of the most horrific massacres [4] in modern history.

Most tweets at this early hour are links to news, though many from within Syria, and abroad have condemned the killings, with some expressing anger at a perceived lack of international outrage. Still others, such as deekelgen963 [5], expressed doubt about the reporting from Hama.

Of the view original reports coming across the Twitter lines, one stands out. Debkafile reports: “Water, power, phone lines cut for Hama's 400,000 inhabitants”.

Meanwhile, from inside Hama, a few videos have emerged.

One shaky video from the Shams News Network [6] shows tanks entering the city:

Another video shows black smoke rising up from within the city:

BBC journalist Shaimaa Khalil pointed to live streaming video coming from Hama, the archive of which is available here [7].

Without the presence of professional journalists in Hama, reporting is reliant on activists and citizen journalists, for whom capturing images and videos comes with considerable risk. As a result, news is often slow to trickle out, but some Syrian activists, such as @wissamtarif [8] and @malathaumran [9] are continuously tweeting news.

This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011 [1].