In Syria after two-thirds of networks in the country became unreachable from the rest of the world in the midst of street protests.
Internet access came back online in Syria on Saturday after two-thirds of networks in the country became unreachable from the rest of the world in the midst of street protests on Friday. As the strife-ridden country once again became visible to the online world, videos of snipers apparently firing on peaceful demonstrators began to surface, like the unsettling clip below, which turns violent about 20 seconds in.
According to Renesys, which monitors Internet connectivity, the country’s 3G data network and other ISPs disappeared from the global network grid Friday morning, but domains linked to the Syrian government remained online. The networks slowly came back online by Saturday morning local time.
JERUSALEM: Syrian pro-democracy activists continued on Sunday to defy increasingly bloody attempts by security forces loyal to the regime of the President, Bashar al-Assad, to crush a nationwide uprising that has now claimed up to 1100 lives.
In early morning raids on Sunday, Syrian army troops arrested hundreds of residents in the cities of Hama and Homs, where protesters were preparing to gather for a third consecutive day of protests against the regime.
On Saturday, three demonstrators were shot dead when 100,000 mourners turned out to attend the funerals for the more than 50 people who were killed in clashes with security forces on Friday.
Protests continued into the night on Saturday across the country. Large crowds gathered in the capital Damascus, the nearby cities of Harasta and Daraa, and Homs in the central west of the country, chanting slogans against Dr Assad.
The head of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdul Rahman, said at least 60 people were killed in Hama on Friday, where Dr Assad’s father, Hafez, crushed an armed revolt 29 years ago by killing up to 30,000 people.
In a telephone conference conducted via Skype on Saturday, arranged by a Syrian human rights group, several eyewitnesses described Friday’s massacre to the Herald.
”Some of the troops you could see ahead, standing calmly and warning people to go home, but when the shooting started it came from above, from the sides, snipers were taking aim and shooting at people,” said Wahid, 33, a high school teacher in Hama.
”Many people ran, everyone was screaming, and they kept shooting at us, even as we ran.” Another participant in the demonstration, a 25-year-old mechanic, Khalid Qassem, saw troops placing guns in the hands of some of the dead, to make it look as though the troops were defending themselves.
”The regime is all built on lies, that we are the violent ones, but every day they are shooting innocent people, who are not armed but are simply asking for freedom.” Another political activist in Hama told the Reuters news agency that anger was very high in the city on Saturday.
”People will never be silent or scared. The whole city is shut today and people are calling for a three-day strike,” said the activist, who gave his name as Omar.
Syria’s official press agency said 20 people were killed on Friday, including police, security agents and civilians ”by shots fired by armed groups”.
On top of the casualties in Hama, the Syrian human rights group Sawasiah said one person was killed in Damascus and two in the north-western province of Idlib.
Seven people were killed in the town of Rastan in central Syria, which has been under military assault and besieged by tanks for the past week.
Dr Assad’s brutal attempts to stifle the uprising against his family’s 41-year rule of Syria has provoked waves of international condemnation, and the imposition of sanctions on himself and members of his family.
On Saturday, the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, said Washington was ”deeply concerned” by reports that the internet and some mobile phone networks had been shut down in much of Syria.
”We condemn any effort to suppress the Syrian people’s exercise of their rights to free expression, assembly and association,” Mrs Clinton said. ”Attempting to silence the population cannot prevent the transition currently taking place … the Syrian people will find a way to make their voices heard.”
As part of its attempts to ease public anger, Dr Assad also authorised the release on Saturday of prominent activist Ali Abdallah, who had been in jail since 2008 after he helped publish a document calling for a democratic constitution for Syria.
