Siege of Daraa

The Siege of Daraa occurred within the context of Arab Spring protests in Syria, beginning on 15 March 2011, with Daraa as the center of uproar. The Syrian Army on 25 April started an eleven-day siege of the city. This harsh reaction would prove to be another step in the escalation of the Syrian conflict, that would eventually escalate into civil war.

The siege involved tanks, helicopters and around 6,000 troops. Up to 244 people were killed, many of them children;^[6] also 81 soldiers were killed,^[6] and 1,000 people were arrested.^[5]

Background

On 15 March 2011, hundreds protested for democracy in Damascus and Aleppo, the largest cities of Syria. This started off a cavalcade of ever-larger and angrier demonstrations all around Syria.

On Friday 18 March, demonstrations erupted in four cities, the largest protest was in Daraa where thousands of protesters demanded an end to government corruption. These Daraa protests were repressed by security forces shooting at demonstrators.^[8] Seven police officers and at least four demonstrators were killed.^[9] The city of Daraa remained a focal point for the Syrian protests.

On 20 March, thousands took to the streets of Daraa for the third straight day, shouting slogans against the country's emergency law. Fifteen persons were killed and scores injured as security forces opened fire on protesters. The courthouse, the Ba'ath party headquarters in the city, and the Syriatel building owned by Rami Makhlouf, a cousin of President Assad, were then all set on fire.

On 23 March, security forces stormed on thousand demonstrators near the central Omari mosque in Daraa, killing at least 37 people.^[10][11]

On 8 April, heavy clashes erupted in Daraa between protestors and security forces, in which 27 protestors and 19 soldiers were killed.^[12] In the protests on the all-Syrian “Great Friday” 22 April, in Daraa 100 demonstrators were killed, according to Al Jazeera.

Timeline

Between 25 April and 5 May 2011, the fourth armoured division^[13] of the Syrian Army, led by Maher al-Assad (brother of Bashar), besieged Daraa, a city of 75,000^[14] or 300,000^[15] inhabitants.

• Monday 25 April: Residents told: before dawn eight tanks – their first use against protesters since 15 March – drove into town with between hundreds and 6,000 troops; they took three smaller mosques and tried to conquer the Omari Mosque which since March had served as a headquarters for demonstrators; water and electricity and phone lines were cut, snipers took positions on roofs of mosques^[14] and were said to have fired,^[16] and a mix of soldiers and armed irregular forces,^[14] men with guns and knives,^[16] searched house-to-house for protesters.^[14]

Dozens were killed in the predawn raid.^[17] Bodies were lying in the streets and couldn’t be reached without risking being shot at, a resident said over satellite phone; “they want to teach Syria a lesson by teaching Daraa a lesson”, he said.^[14] Another resident of Daraa said over the phone, according to Arizona Daily Star: "Let Obama come and take Syria. Let Israel come and take Syria. Let the Jews come. Anything is better than Bashar Assad."^[18] According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and another opposition source, the second-in-command of the acting army brigade refused orders to storm the city and was arrested himself.^[17]

• 26 April: According to human rights groups, dozens of people in Daraa were arrested by security forces.^[16] A resident said over the telephone to Associated Press: “We are being subjected to a massacre; children are being killed”.^[16]
• 28 April: Al Jazeera suggested, with amateur video pictures, that soldiers in Daraa refused to shoot at demonstrators, or defected, and then were wounded themselves, perhaps shot by the army, after which they were helped by civilians; the government immediately officially denied ‘any such reports’.^[19]

Today, people in Daraa could still not leave their homes because snipers shot everything that moved, sources said to Al Jazeera.^[20] Between 25 and 28 April, 42 to 50 people were killed in Daraa by security forces, Al Jazeera and Los Angeles Times estimated.^[20][21] A Daraa resident said, according to the Los Angeles Times, that an entire army division or brigade had broken off and was hiding among the people; the claim could not be verified, due to foreign journalists not being granted access in Syria.^[21]

• Friday 29 April: Thousands of protesters from outside tried to enter besieged Daraa, security forces fired at them and killed 15, sources told Al Jazeera.^[22] In total, 33 people were reported killed today in Daraa, said activists.^[23] 156 people were arrested, according to the Syrian military.^[23]

Daraa was now completely surrounded by tanks and armed troops, with snipers still on roofs and even hiding in minarets of mosques, an eyewitness said to Al Jazeera over the phone.^[22] Morgues contained today 83 corpses, according to prominent lawyer in Daraa Tamer al-Jahamani.^[22] Dead bodies still lay rotting in the streets, because collecting them was risking being shot, the eyewitness said to Al Jazeera.^[22]

The government claimed it was battling “extremist and terrorist groups” in Daraa and that today two soldiers were killed.^[22]

• 30 April: Syrian Army troops backed by around 20 tanks and by helicopters, firing tank shells and machine guns and dropping paratroopers on the Omari Mosque, took this mosque that was a focal point for protests since March, killing six people,^[24] one of them being the son of the mosque’s imam,^[25] witnesses said.

A witness told Al Jazeera that 300 soldiers had defected and joined the protesters, and that “there’s no food, no medicine, no electricity, we are collecting rain water to drink”.^[23]

• 1 May: Tanks today fired shells into Daraa’s ancient Roman quarter, a resident said.^[26]

Daraa inhabitants were still confined to their homes, communications still down;^[25] the town since 25 April still without water, fuel or electricity.^[26] Unable to leave their homes, residents chanted “God is Great!” to each other from their windows in the evenings, infuriating security forces.^[26]

A source in Daraa told Al Jazeera that security forces were intensifying their house to house searches, and that hundreds of people had been arrested.^[25] The government confirmed that 149 people had been arrested in Daraa.^[25]

• 4 May: A Syrian military official told that security forces had arrested members of an armed terrorist group in Daraa, where they had found weapons and ammunition hidden underground and in gardens.^[27]
• 5 May: The Israeli website Ynetnews reported that only about 50 people were killed in Daraa since 25 April.^[2] The Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies (DCHRS) today reported that 244 dead bodies of civilians, many of them children, have been transferred from Daraa to the Tishreen Military Hospital in Damascus. Also 81 dead bodies of soldiers and army officers had arrived from Daraa in that hospital, most of them killed by a gunshot to the back, probably after refusing to shoot civilians, according to DCHRS. An amateur video, reportedly from Daraa, showed dozens of people killed in the streets, people shot through the head. DCHRS speaks of “10 days of massacres” in Daraa, and says army units have been using anti-aircraft machine guns to shell houses in central neighbourhoods.^[28] Since 30 April, almost 1,000 men have reportedly been arrested in Daraa, the BBC reports.^[5]

Syria's state run news agency and military officials announced that the military had "carried out" and completed "its mission in detaining terrorists" and restoring calm to Daraa^[2][29] and that army units had begun a “gradual withdrawal” from Daraa.^[5] An AFP correspondent saw 350 soldiers, 20 armoured personnel carriers and 20 lorries driving out of the city,^[30] while witnesses saw a column of around 30 tanks on armoured carriers heading north out of Daraa. Army units remained deployed at entrances to the city.^[29]

Trucks carrying drinking water, food and first aid material and experts from the Syrian Red Crescent and the International Red Cross delivered their first emergency relief supplies to Daraa.^[30] 150 students at the Daraa University held a brief sit-in.^[31]

• 6 May: Residents insisted the military still remained in force in Daraa with streets largely subdued and residents afraid to leave their homes.^[32] Protesters gathered in Tafas, 12 km NNW of Daraa, tried to enter Daraa but could not because Daraa was still besieged, according to witnesses.^[33][34]
• 7 May: The Syrian human-rights organisation Sawasiah^[35] estimated that during the 11-days siege 220 civilians were killed in Daraa.^[3] The Syrian military declared it had “pursued members of terrorist groups in and around neighbourhoods of Daraa” and “arrested people and seized (…) weapons that these groups have used to attack the army and citizens”.^[36]

International reactions

U.S. President Barack Obama, in reaction to the military operation 25 April in Daraa, said the U.S. prepared to freeze Syrian officials' American assets.^[37] E.U. countries, including permanent Security Council members France and the U.K., asked the U.N. Security Council 25 April to condemn the Syrian government's use of violence, but it was unclear whether permanent council members Russia and China would support that idea.^[38]

Aftermath

• 9 May: According to the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria, the Syrian army used schools and a soccer stadium as makeshift prisons for the hundreds of arrests of recent days.^[39] A U.N. humanitarian assessment mission was not given permission to enter Syria and visit Daraa.^[39]
• 13 May: Protests erupted in and around besieged Daraa.^[40]
• 14 May: Syrian officials announced that soldiers and tanks were being pulled out of Daraa.^[41]
• 16 May 2011: The army allowed residents to venture outside their homes for two hours a day, a human rights activist said.^[42] On the outskirts of Daraa, two mass graves were reportedly discovered with 24 and 7 bodies.^[43][44] Within an hour the Syrian army reportedly took control of the larger site, started removing the corpses and confiscated mobile phones of witnesses.^[44] The story could not be independently verified, partly because foreign reporters were not granted access into Syria.^[44]

References

External links

• We’ve Never Seen Such Horror, Human Rights Watch, 1 June 2011
• By All Means Necessary!, Human Rights Watch, 16 December 2011

Syrian Civil War
Part of the Arab Spring
Background Timeline Background 1963 coup d'état 1966 coup d'état 1970 "Corrective Revolution" 1979–82 Islamic uprising 1999 Latakia protests 2000–01 Damascus Spring 2004 al-Qamishli riots Syrian occupation of Lebanon 2005 Damascus Declaration Human rights in Syria 2011 (Jan–Apr • May–Aug • Sep–Dec) Death of Hamza Ali Al-Khateeb Siege of Daraa Siege of Baniyas Talkalakh siege Siege of Rastan and Talbiseh Jisr ash-Shugur operation Siege of Hama Siege of Homs Jabal al-Zawiya operation Siege of Latakia Deir ez-Zor Clashes Rif Dimashq clashes Battle of Zabadani Battle of Douma Daraa Governorate clashes First Battle of Rastan Shayrat and Tiyas airbase ambush Idlib Governorate clashes Jabal al-Zawiya massacres 2012 (Jan–Apr • May–Aug • Sep–Dec) al-Midan bombing Second Battle of Rastan First Idlib operation First Battle of Idlib First Battle of al-Qusayr Second Idlib operation Battle of Taftanaz Third Battle of Rastan Houla massacre Battle of al-Haffah Al-Qubeir massacre Battle of Tremseh Battle of Damascus Damascus bombing Battle of Aleppo Battle of Anadan Siege of Base 46 First Rif Dimashq offensive Darayya massacre Battle of Khirbet al-Joz Battle of Maarrat al-Nu'man First Siege of Wadi Deif Battle of Harem Second Rif Dimashq offensive Battle of Darayya Aqrab massacre First Hama offensive Halfaya massacre Battle of Darayya Quneitra Governorate clashes Talbiseh bakery massacre 2013 (Jan–Apr • May–Dec) Battle of Safira Battle of Shadadeh Damascus offensive Battle of Raqqa Daraa offensive Third Rif Dimashq offensive Battle of Jdaidet al-Fadl Ghouta chemical attack Al-Qusayr offensive Second Battle of al-Qusayr Bayda and Baniyas massacres Second Hama offensive Hatla massacre Khan al-Assal chemical attack Khan al-Assal massacre Adra massacre Battle of Ras al-Ayn Fourth Rif Dimashq offensive Aleppo offensive 2014 (Jan–Jul • Aug–Dec) First Inter-Rebel Conflict Battle of Markada First Deir ez-Zor Offensive Battle of Mork 2nd Daraa Offensive Maan massacre Al-Otaiba ambush 4th Idlib Offensive Battle of Hosn 2nd Latakia Offensive Battle of Al-Malihah Kafr Zita chemical attack Second Siege of Wadi Deif 2nd Qalamoun Offensive Battle of Arsal First Battle of the Shaer gas field Eastern Syria Offensive Battle for Tabqa Air base 3rd Hama Offensive Quneitra Offensive 6th Rif Dimashq offensive Siege of Kobanî 3rd Daraa offensive 2nd Al-Safira offensive Idlib Raid Second Inter-Rebel Conflict Second Battle of the Shaer gas field Battle of Al-Shaykh Maskin 2nd Deir ez-Zor offensive 2015 (Jan–Jul • Aug–Dec) An-26 crash 4th Daraa Offensive Southern Syria Offensive Eastern al-Hasakah offensive 1st Battle of Sarrin 2nd Battle of Sarrin Battle of Bosra 5th Idlib Offensive Second Battle of Idlib Battle of Nasib Border Crossing 2nd Battle of Yarmouk Camp Western al-Hasakah offensive Palmyra offensive (May 2015) Tell Abyad offensive Kobanî massacre Quneitra offensive Palmyra offensive (July–August 2015) 7th Rif Dimashq offensive Northwestern Syria offensive 2015 Aleppo offensive 2015 Al-Hawl offensive Homs offensive (November–December 2015) East Aleppo offensive (2015–16) Latakia offensive (2015–2016) Tishrin Dam offensive 2015 Russian Sukhoi Su-24 shootdown 2016 (Jan–Apr • May–Aug • Sep–Dec) Second Battle of Al-Shaykh Maskin 3rd Deir ez-Zor offensive Sayyidah Zaynab bombings Wusta clashes Northern Aleppo offensive (February 2016) Ithriyah-Raqqah offensive (February–March 2016) Al-Shaddadi offensive (2016) February Homs bombings February Sayyidah Zaynab bombings 2016 Khanasir offensive Battle of Tel Abyad Qamishli clashes (April 2016) Northern Aleppo offensive (March–June 2016) Palmyra offensive (March 2016) East Ghouta inter-rebel conflict (April–May 2016) 8th Rif Dimashq offensive Northern Raqqa offensive (May 2016) May 2016 Jableh and Tartous bombings Ithriyah-Raqqah offensive (June 2016) 9th Rif Dimashq offensive Manbij offensive (2016) Tokhar 2016 Southern Aleppo campaign Battle of al-Rai (August 2016) 2016 Aleppo campaign Jarabulus offensive (2016) Western al-Bab offensive (2016) 5 September 2016 Syria bombings September 2016 Deir ez-Zor air raid September 2016 Urum al-Kubra Aid Convoy Attack September Aleppo offensive 2016 Dabiq offensive Western al-Bab offensive (October 2016) Aleppo offensive (October 2016) Khan al-Shih offensive (October 2016) Northern Raqqa offensive (November 2016) Northern al-Bab offensive (November 2016) Battle of al-Bab (2016) Aleppo offensive (November 2016) Palmyra offensive (December 2016) Battle of Tiyas Military Airbase Spillover Spillover into Lebanon Lebanese–Syrian border clashes Battle of Sidon Iranian Embassy Bombing Northern Lebanon Clashes Syrian-Turkish border clashes December 2011 Syrian–Turkish border clash Turkish aircraft shootdown October 2012 Syrian-Turkish border clashes Reyhanlı bombings January 2014 Turkish airstrike in Syria Israeli–Syrian ceasefire line incidents Jordanian-Syrian border clashes April 2014 Jordanian–Syrian border airstrike Spillover into Iraq Akashat ambush Operation al-Shabah April 2014 Iraqi–Syrian border airstrike
Involved parties Syria Ba'ath Government| Syrian Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party Syrian Social Nationalist Party Arab Socialist Movement Syrian Communist Party Military & Militias Syrian Armed Forces Ba'ath Brigades Syrian Resistance Syrian Social Nationalist Party PFLP-GC Palestine Liberation Army Liwa al-Quds Smaller groups Support for the government Hezbollah involvement Iranian involvement Liwa Fatemiyoun Russia's involvement military intervention Russia–Syria–Iran–Iraq coalition Popular Mobilization Forces (Iraq) Syrian opposition, Al-Qaeda affiliates and allies NCSR Government National Coalition Local Co-ordination Committees Syrian National Council Supreme Council of the Syrian Revolution National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change Syrian Revolution General Commission Syrian Support Group Adopt a Revolution Opposition militias Jaysh al-Halab Fatah Halab Hawar Kilis Southern Front Jaysh al-Islam Al-Rahman Legion Liwa al-Majid Martyrs of Islam Brigade Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union Victory Brigades New Syrian Army Jaysh Usud al-Sharqiya Forces of Martyr Ahmad al-Abdo Jabhat Ansar al-Islam Alwiya al-Furqan Smaller groups Army of Conquest Jabhat Fateh al-Sham Ahrar al-Sham Sham Legion Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki Jaysh al-Sunna Suqour al-Sham Brigade Liwa al-Haqq Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria Allied groups Muslim Brotherhood of Syria Grey Wolves Jabhat Ansar al-Din Caucasus Emirate Ajnad al-Kavkaz Junud al Makhdi Jaish al-Ahrar Ashida'a Mujahideen Brigade Smaller groups Support for the Opposition American-led intervention American rescue mission Jordanian intervention Qatari involvement Saudi Arabia Turkey Rojava (SDF) Rojava government Democratic Union Party Kurdish National Council Smaller political groups SDF groups People's Protection Units Women's Protection Units Al-Sanadid Forces Syriac Military Council Army of Revolutionaries Liwa Thuwar al-Raqqa Al-Nukhbat Brigade Free Officers Union Northern Democratic Brigade SDF Military Councils Smaller groups Allied groups Euphrates Knights Brigade Kurdistan Workers' Party International Freedom Battalion TKP-Kıvılcım Yekîtî Party Sinjar Resistance Units Smaller groups ISIL Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Military of ISIL Jamaat Bayt al-Maqdis al-Islamiya Dokumacılar Allied groups Khalid ibn al-Walid Army
People Ammar Abdulhamid Ali al-Abdallah Adnan al-Aroor al-Assad family Bashar Maher Rifaat Rami Makhlouf Hafez Makhlouf Riad al-Asaad Anwar al-Bunni Fahd Jassem al-Freij Haitham al-Maleh Moaz al-Khatib Kamal al-Labwani Hamza al-Khateeb Tal al-Mallohi Fida al-Sayed Riad al-Turk Khaled Khoja Ammar al-Qurabi Suheir Atassi Ali Sadreddine Al-Bayanouni Aref Dalila Farid Ghadry Burhan Ghalioun Razan Ghazzawi Ghassan Hitto Salim Idris Randa Kassis Abdul Halim Khaddam Michel Kilo Bassma Kodmani Ali Habib Mahmud Ali Mahmoud Othman Ibrahim Qashoush Dawoud Rajiha Yassin al-Haj Saleh Bouthaina Shaaban Adib Shishakly Abdulbaset Sieda Riad Seif Fadwa Soliman Mohamad Anas Haitham Soueid Yaser Tabbara Razan Zaitouneh Rami Jarrah Abdurrahman Mustafa
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Coordinates: 32°37′00″N 36°07′00″E / 32.6167°N 36.1167°E / 32.6167; 36.1167