Local Coordination Committees – Statement of Coordination Committee in the city of Lattakia

Syrian army vehicles started in the morning of Sunday 13-August-2011 to storm Raml Janoobi (Southern Raml) neighborhood from two main axises, they were supported by naval forces anchored off the coast of the neighborhood. Storming included shooting form heavy machine-guns and weaponry at homes and water tanks, residents intimidation and large detention campaign reached dozens of young people, while electricity and mobile communications were totally cutoff. Vehicles, troops and bulldozers destroyed some houses and changed how some main roads looked like. Vehicles invaded Hurrieh (Freedom) square in the neighborhood and opened fire at Muhajereen mosque minaret, reports said this mosque was later reduced to rubble. A’edoon Palestinian refugees camp was stormed, which is leading to Hurrieh square, 5,000 Palestinians were displaced by force as they were told to evacuate there homes via speakers.

Sources said that during 3 days of military operations in the neighborhood more than 30 martyrs were killed and more than 200 were wounded, all of them are civilians and these numbers include women and a 2 and a half years old baby girl, they neighborhood witnessed a heavy displacement traffic.

Raml neighborhood and the besieged area (Sakantori, Ain Tamra, Bustan Samakeh, Bustan Saidawi and Masbah Shaab) where the military operations are make about the third of the city of Lattakia area and have more than 300,000 residents.
Other neighborhoods of the city witnessed security tightening and a siege on Slaibe area where electricity is cutoff after Taraweeh prayer. There were heavy shooting in most of the city neighborhoods to intimidate people, the city is in a state like general strike for the third day in a row.
We, Coordination Committee in the city of Lattakia, condemn this military operations and their results of crimes against civilians, we hold the regime the responsibility of killing and torture committed against our people in the besieged and stormed neighborhoods, and we reaffirm that no one in Raml neighborhood asked the army to enter the city. We would like to inform the national and international streets that army with security forces and shabiha (regime’s armed thugs) stormed the city because it was the scene of daily demonstrations and sit-ins demanding the departure of the regime, and we deny the allegations of regime’s media, there is no armed gangs.

We also call on the people of the city of Lattakia to the restraint on some sectarian practices carried out by the regime’s repressive departments and shabiha.

We demand the immediate exit of security and military forces from the stormed areas and pullout of vehicles and armored vehicles to stop the bloodshed in our besieged neighborhoods.

In addition, we appeal to medical and human rights agencies and all people of conscience to quickly help the wounded that ecxeeded 100 people, they don’t have minimum health care and are left to bleed to death because of the continuing siege and fear of people go to a hospital outside Raml area because the detention would be consigned to their fate and are therefore the choice of issuing the death in their homes and the death in custody