The Baath regime of Syria has committed a major massacre since anti-regime protests and clashes broke out in March. Snipers stationed on tops of high-rise buildings fired on protesters deliberately. The hospitals in the city are crowded with wounded protesters and the crackdown on the city is going on, Syrian human rights activists report. 

Syria, where protests against the regime of Bashar al-Assad continue unabated, has witnessed the bloodiest days since protests began. In response to the largest ever protest rally in Hama following Friday prayers, army units entered the city with tanks. The Baath regime of Syria has committed many massacres since its formation, but the bloodiest of these was in 1982 when it killed thousands of innocent Muslims in the city of Hama. 

BLOODSHED IN HAMA

Syrian troops fired at random with heavy machine guns and cleared away the barricades set up by Hama protesters. Eye witnesses said tanks entered the city from four points and troops moved into deeper parts of the city to clear barricades. “Snipers climbed to roofs of buildings and the prison and hunted protesters,” another witness said. Hospitals are overcrowded with the dead and the wounded and are failing to provide services because of supplies shortages. Water and power supply to certain neighborhoods have been cut to deter protests. There are also bodies lying in the streets that are yet to be collected, reports say.

BLOOD-SHEDDER LIKE HIS UNCLE

It was reported that Syrian forces had fired cluster bombs on people protesting against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the capital Damascus, wounding 42 protesters. The Fourth Armored Division commanded by Maher al-Assad has been deployed to Harasta. It is believed that the crackdown on the protests is led by Maher al-Assad, the brother of Bashar al-Assad. Maher’s uncle Rifaat al-Assad, whom Maher is sometimes compared to, had led the bloody repression of the 1982 uprising in Hama, killing around 40,000 people.  

END REPRESSION AND STEP DOWN

The Baath regime not only does not hesitate to kill masses in the month of Ramadan, but also tries to block journalists from reporting its bloody actions. Video footage and images of the crackdown that appalled the world give an idea about the extent of human rights violations and the cruelty. The Baath regime of Syria, which has lost all legitimacy, has to end violence and step down as the public demands. The Organization of the Islamic Cooperation should discuss the problem immediately and take action.