More than 305 people were killed across Syria on Wednesday according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, making it the bloodiest day yet in the eighteen month conflict. Some human rights groups put yesterday's total as high as 343 souls, according to the Telegraph.
Up to 700,000 Syrian refugees may flee their country by the end of the year UNHCR reported yesterday.
On Tuesday, the BBC reported on the systematic use of rape and sexual abuse against detainees by the Assad government:
The first thing he saw was a woman in the corner of the basement. "They were raping her. It was clear that they were raping her. There was blood coming out of her body and she just stayed in the corner."
The witness was working as an activist with a church-based human rights group when he was arrested last November.
The witness says his captors demanded that he confess to smuggling weapons and sending footage of demonstrations to foreign news organisations.
"They hit me, they kick me, they slap me and they (did) something unfriendly and offensive… I know what happens when they arrest someone. I feel like this is the end."
Alleged rape victim talks to Fergal Keane The "rapist officers" behaved like animals, the former detainee says
At first, he says, a security official began to touch him sexually. There was also an officer who watched what was happening but remained silent. Then he was attacked by a group of three officers.
"The three guys, they are like animals. I tried to protect myself but I'm just a short guy… when they were raping me, I start to say: 'Please don't do that, please don't do that.'"
5:32 PM PT:
From the Telegraph we have
The Observatory claimed 14 people on both sides were killed in a bomb attack on the army command centre in Damascus and a subsequent gun battle. The regime admitted to four security guards having been killed, and the rebels to four of their men shot dead and another, the suicide bomber who began the attack, blowing himself up.So 14 there.
The worst single incident on Wednesday was the discovery of scores of bodies in the southern Damascus suburb of Dhiyabiyah, men of all ages who had apparently been shot in cold blood.The differing figure put on that massacre - 40, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 107 according to local activists - accounts for the disparity in the total number of deaths given.So 40-107 murdered by the regime there. The Telegraph also speaks of:
attendant aerial attacks on civilian areas by the regime's fighter jets,From the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights:
Homs Province: The violent bombardment by regime forces, has resumed, on the Rastan city, leading to several injuries and the destruction of some houses.
-Idlib Province: The Kafarmeed and Mhambel towns were bombarded by regime forces, leading to a number of injuries. Regime forces, raided the Ghasaniya town, and violent clashes took place in the town, between regime forces and rebel fighters, and news were received about deaths and injuries among regime forces, and the clashes are still going on.
Homs province: The Khaldiya, Jourat al-Shayyah, Sultaniya and old neighbourhoods of Homs have come under intense regime bombardment, several injuries were reported; violent explosions rocked these neighbourhoods during the bombardment. Clashes took place on the Sultaniya neighbourhood, there are reports of losses on both sides. The towns of al-Jousiya, al-Zira'a and al-Nezariya have been under violent regime bombardment.
Latakia province: The town of Balkas was violently bombarded by regime forces, no reports of casualties. Violent clashes took place in Jabal al-Turkman (turkman mountain), reports indicate regime losses.
Idlib province: The city of Kafrenbel was violently bombarded by regime forces, 1 civilian who happened to be in the marketplace was killed as a result, a woman was also killed; several houses were destroyed as a result of the bombardment. Regime forces also bombarded the towns of Khan Shaikhoun, Meghtrem, and al-Aliya, causing several injuries. The body of a young man from the city of Saraqeb was
found near the military barracks in the town of Mastouma, he was killed by a gunshot, there were marks of torture on his body. A rebel fighter from the province was killed during clashes in Aleppo. Rebel and regime forces clashes near the village of Bsanqoul, reports indicate that both sides suffered losses.
Homs Province: Intense clashes are taking place in the areas of Jobar and al-Sultaniya and in the neighbouring Naqeera village, the clashes are accompanied by violent regime bombardment. The towns and villages of al-Dar al-Kabira, al-Ghento, al-Nezariya, Jousiya and al-Zira'a are also under regime bombardment.
Latakia Province: Violent clashes are taking place in the villages of the Turkman mountain, the area wes under bombardment earlier by Syrian regime forces. There are reports that the army has begun a military operation in northern Reef Latakia, which is mostly outside the control of the regime, mostly the Kurd and Turkman mountains.
Final death toll for Wednesday 26/9/2012: More than 300 Syrians were killed. 26/9/2012 marks the single bloodiest day so far since the beginning of the uprising.There is a saying: "A single death is a tragedy. A thousand deaths is a statistic."
The dead include: 189 unarmed civilians (13 were children) , 22 rebel fighters, 4 defected soldiers, and 49 regular soldiers
55 were killed in Reef Dimashq (40 bodies were found in several parts of the Thiyabiya town, the SOHR has docu
mented 29 names so far, they include women and children*); 44 were killed in Deir Izzour province (20 civilians and 3 rebels were killed when regime forces stormed the al-Joura neighbourhood*); 26 were killed in Damascus (17 civilians were killed by pro-regime gunmen in Harat al-Turkman , Barzeh neighbourhood, the dead include 8 women and 3 children); 30 killed in Aleppo province (5 civilians were killed when a rocket landed on the regime-loyal al-Sleimaniya neighbourhood); 14 were killed in Hama province; 7 in Dera'a province; 8 killed in Idlib province; 27 were killed in Homs province (13 men were shot and killed by regime forces in the al-Bayyada neighbourhood).There are further reports of tens of unidentified bodies in the al-Thiyabiya town of Reef Dimashq. There are also more reports on deaths in the Joura neighbourhood of Deir Izzour
Information was received of 28 unidentified persons, 6 in the Hajar al-Aswad neighbourhood; 5 in Rankous; 17 in Hama province
A journalist from the Press TV channel was shot and killed during the clashes by the General Command of the Armed forces in Damascus.
*9 men killed on Tuesday by regime fire in Ibti', Reef Dera'a, were only documented by the SOHR today. 1 civilian from Hayyan was also documented today*
In a nut shell, that is why some insist that, in this visual video age, these deaths be shown in all their gory detail, and also why others rail against them, and try to suppress them with cries of war-porn. To its credit, YouTube won't be silenced by such cries, and neither will I.
Regime guards beating prisoners to death. Extremely Graphic.
If you read my diary yesterday, then you know that I am hardly in a position to take time out to write this now.
But I do anyhow, because I am terribly afraid that if I don't, the plight of these poor people won't even get a mention in the Daily Kos.
Why is that? There is even a core group of Kossacks that are trying hard to shut me up or have me banned. First they came at with bogus charges of copyright violation. They set themselves up as 3rd party volunteers, policing what they suspected [falsely] was my violation of other people's copy rights.
Then, when I refused to let dry statistics tell the story, they charged me with "war-porn", a term usually applied to the grotesque trophy pictures soldiers kept of their victims, not works like Schindler's List, or pictures from the Jewish holocaust. [Please look at the picture that accompanies the Telegraph article above and tell me why it is not "war-porn", and if it is, write angry letters to the editor and try to shut them up.
I was born 3 years after the end of that holocaust, and grew up in a world that asked itself how it could have ever allowed that to happen, and promised that it would never happen again.
Now what are they telling me?
Here are my related diaries on Syria:
Syria: Secret source of rebel arms revealed
BREAKING: Amnesty on Syria - Assad Regime guilty on indiscriminate slaugther
Syrian Revolution Digest shows "disgusting" photos!
Syria: The Killing Field the World is Learning to Live With
Barack Obama's Courtship of Bashar al-Assad
LIVE VIDEO: “World Silence is Killing #Syria” Rally in #DC
Free #Syria responds to Robert Fisk
UPDATED: #Assad: "#Syria doesn't need a green light!"
#Obama opposes French support for #Assad's opposition in #Syria
BREAKING: Amnesty site hacked, Assad propaganda posted
BREAKING: 630 Slaughtered in new massacre in Syria
Special message from Syrian children to Obama
Assad's Redline and Obama's Greenlight!
General Meade at Gettysburg
Tell US gov't to stop endangering Syrian activists
UPDATED: #Obama "green lights" #Assad's slaughter in #Syria
Syria: Turning Battlegrounds into Playgrounds
BREAKING: Bashar al-Assad is alive as deaths in Syria reach 25,000
The Left and the Arab Spring
Iran increasing its intervention in Syria
Syria: Images from the Battle of Aleppo
Fears grow of WMD attack in Syria
UPDATED: FSA says it killed Russian General in Syria
BREAKING: Syria releases new images of Bashar al- Assad | Are they fakes?
NOT BREAKING NEWS: Just another massacre in Syria
UPDATED: Syrian prime minister defects
Syria: FSA says Iranian pilgrims really Republican Guard
Syria: Aleppo under Siege!
BREAKING: UN votes to condemn Assad Regime as Reuters posts false story on Syria
BREAKING: Kofi Annan resigns as envoy to Syria
Syria: Bashar al-Assad not heard from on Armed Forces Day!
BREAKING: Senior Syrian diplomat to Armenia defects
BREAKING: Big Explosion hits #Damascus #Syria
UPDATED: Syria's Charge D'Affaires Quits London Post
BREAKING: Ground assault on Aleppo begins!
BREAKING: Protests across Syria in spite of Assad regime violence
ALEPPO: Step outside the Matrix and witness the Horror
UPDATED: US fears massacre in #Aleppo, #Syria
BREAKING: Reports of clashes between Jordan Army & Assad's Syrian army
BRAKING: Obama stops Putin from re-arming Assad in Syria
Syria: Foreign meddling increases as crisis builds
BREAKING: Aleppo, Syria bombed with fighter jets
BREAKING: Syria issues a correction, it has no WMD to use
BREAKING: Arab League asks Assad to step down!
Bashar al-Assad: New images released as slaughter continues in Syria
no blood for oil
BREAKING: Activists report toxic gas attack in Deir ez-Zor, Syria
Glenn Greenwald sees Islamist Terrorism as main issue in Syria
Will Syria's Assad make a chemical attack in Damascus on Saturday?
BREAKING: I know where Syria's President Bashar al-Assad is!
BREAKING: Massive Fire near #Assad's Presidential Palace in #Damascus, #Syria
BREAKING: Is Syria's Bashar al-Assad dead or dying?
BREAKING: Damascus explosion kills Defense Minister, other key figures
The battle for Damascus is coming
BREAKING: General Strike in Damascus
BREAKING: Intense fighting reported in Damascus now!
BREAKING: Syrian defector spills beans as important new defection reported.
Does Syria's Assad have something on Kofi Annan?
Tremseh Massacre in Syria: What we know
BREAKING: ~227 reported massacred by Assad's forces in Tremseh, Syria today!
Syria: Is Assad regime on the verge of collapse?
BREAKING: Russian Warships reported in Syria
BREAKING: #Russia changing on #Assad but not as fast as conditions in #Syria
UN Observers say violence in Syria is ‘Unprecedented’
BREAKING: Defection of major Assad insider reported in Syria
BREAKING: WikiLeaks releases 2.4 million #Syria emails
When did "Never Again" become "Whenever?" | #Douma
BREAKING: Incredible mass rally in Aleppo, Syria today!
BREAKING: HRW releases torture report on Syria
BREAKING: Syrian General defects with 293 to Turkey
BREAKING: Items not in the MSM on Syria
My response to Phyllis Bennis: Where is the non-violent opposition in Syria?
BREAKING: Syrian Air Force attacks Douma, 10m from Damascus, thousands flee
BREAKING: As Syria Burns, UN Blows More Smoke
BREAKING: Kofi Annan to propose Syrian unity gov't sans Assad!
BREAKING: Douma, Syria under massive attack, another massacre feared
BREAKING: Another mass defection from Syrian army
BREAKING: #NATO says No War in #Syria shoot down of #Turkey jet
NATO meetup tomorrow as more defect from Syria
BREAKING: Turkey calls for NATO consult on downing of jet by Syria
BREAKING: Senior Syrian Officers Defect
UPDATED: Russia reported to be preparing to evacuate from Syria
BREAKING: Syria fighter pilot defects
BREAKING: Britain stops Russian ship carrying attack helicopters for Syria
BREAKING: Russian troops headed to Syria
Qaddafi forces Strike Back in Libya
BREAKING: UN suspends mission in Syria
Libya & Syria - two videos - no comment
BREAKING: Russia denies supplying Syria with NEW attack helicopters
Syrian people rise up against the massacre
Another "Houla style" massacre in Syria
Fake Houla Massacre Photo: Was the BBC set up?
Idlib, Syria protest today on anniversary of Kent State killings
BREAKING: Massive protests in Syria following Friday pray
Syria is bleeding
Syria: Ceasefire faltering as mass protests breakout
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