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Subscribe to RSSSyria's pro-government television station has been attacked. Seven people were killed. ITV's Bill Neely reports.
Updated 7:30 a.m. ET: Gunmen raided the headquarters of a pro-government Syrian TV station early Wednesday, killing seven employees, kidnapping others and demolishing buildings, officials said.
An Associated Press photographer who visited the Al-Ikhbariya station's compound said five portable buildings used for offices and studios had collapsed, with blood on the floor and wooden partitions still on fire. Some walls had bullet holes.
Al-Ikhbariya is privately-owned but strongly supports President Bashar Assad's regime. Pro-government journalists have been attacked on several previous occasions during the country's 15-month uprising, although such incidents are comparatively rare.
Information Minister Omran al-Zoebi said the killings were "a massacre against the freedom of the press" in remarks broadcast on state TV.
He later told reporters that it had been carried out by terrorists -- the same word the government uses for rebels. Rebels deny they target the media.
"The terrorists planted explosive devices in the headquarters of al-Ikhbariya following their ransacking of the satellite channel studios, including the newsroom which was entirely destroyed," the state media said.
Restrictions on the media make it difficult to verify accounts of events on the ground.
An employee at the station said several other staffers were wounded in the attack, which happened just before 4 a.m. local time. He said the gunmen kidnapped him along with several station guards. He was released but the guards were not.
Turkey to help 'liberate the Syrians from dictatorship'
The employee, who did not give his name for fear of repercussions, said the gunmen drove him about 200 meters (yards) away, and then he heard the explosion of the station being demolished.
SANA via EPA
Damage to a TV channel's building in Drousha, outside Damascus on Wednesday.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Picture supplied by the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency.
"I was terrified when they blindfolded me and took me away," the man said by telephone.
'Quickly deteriorating'
Also on Wednesday, Syrian government forces have committed human rights violations, including executions, across the country "on an alarming scale" during military operations in the past three months, United Nations investigators said.
Syrian President Bashar aAssad told his newly appointed cabinet that a real "state of war" exists in the country and directed them to direct all its efforts toward vanquishing the uprising against him. ITV's Bill Neely reports.
Their report, presented by investigation head Paulo Pinheiro to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, also listed multiple killings and kidnappings by armed opposition groups trying to topple Assad.
"The situation on the ground is dangerously and quickly deteriorating," the 20-page report said.
NYT: Turkish border a crucial link in Syrian conflict
"In the increasingly militarised context, human rights violations are occuring across the country on an alarming scale during military operations against locations believed to be hosting defectors and/or those perceived as affiliated with anti-government armed groups, including the Free Syrian Army," it said.
Syria's ambassador dismissed the accusations and threatened to end cooperation with international agencies.
The investigation's report also said it was unable to determine who carried out a massacre of more than 100 people in Houla in May but that forces loyal to Assad may have carried out many of the killings.
Tensions between President Barack Obama and Russia President Vladimir Putin are making it more difficult for the two countries to find common ground on issues like Syria and Iran. Former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov discusses.
Activists reported violence throughout Syria on Wednesday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist network, said at least 10 government soldiers were killed in an ambush in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour.
In neighboring Turkey, some 30 more Syrian soldiers defected with their families overnight, the country's state-run Anadolu news agency reported Wednesday. It was not clear if the group included any senior officers.
Assad's regime has suffered an embarrassing string of high-ranking defections this week, with dozens of soldiers, including senior officers, reported to have fled to Turkey.
Report: Syrian general, dozens of other soldiers defect
Much of the violence that has gripped Syria over the past 15 months has been sanctioned by the government to crush dissent. But rebel fighters are launching increasingly deadly attacks on regime targets, and several massive suicide attacks this year suggest al-Qaida or other extremists are joining the fray.
Many in the opposition consider the media an arm of the regime. Syria does not have a free press and most news organizations are either state-run or private bodies that carry the government's point of view. Most of the private TV stations and newspapers are owned by politicians or wealthy businessmen who have close links to the regime.
Assad denies that there is any popular will behind the uprising, saying terrorists are behind a conspiracy to destroy the country.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
Deja vu??
I thought we already did this one...that guy posted what he posted...and then I responded with
Yep, Sure enough, these are definitely the groups that America should be supporting....NOT
boy that is creepy...
Oh, come on now...no one in the Islamic World needs reporting. It just stirs up the masses. Best thing to do is tear down the transmitters and let them get their news from the Imam because we all know he is all about "Peace". He will help them get back to the 7th century in no time...and we all know how peaceful the 7th century was.
MOSinEUR: Which brand of Imam is to be selected for "love" and "peace"?
We have to worry about Shiite, Sunni, Ahmedia, Sufi, Wahhabi and other major Imams.
One simple mistake means being blown up to pieces in mosque along with Imam and Quran!
Silence! I kill you!
"Syrian government forces have committed human rights violations, including executions, across the country "on an alarming scale" during military operations in the past three months, United Nations investigators said."
Lots of Saudi, oil companies and lobbyists and their cheap agents are doing tango dances in addition to their Turkey, al-Qaida, MB and others.
As austerity measures, corrupt and partisan UN and all its agencies should be wound up!
We had enough WMDs and cock and bull stories in Iraq before Iraqi wars!
The Syrian gov't says the attack was a "massacre against freedom of the press"... freedom of the press??? We all believe that, right??? The Assad gov't is a house of cards... it will tumble.
Ok let me try to explain this mathematically, since mathematics is the language of the universe.
Islam =/= Death to all who resist and burn them alive
Islam =/= hugs and kisses and flower fields and rainbows
Islam =/= Syria's only studied field
Rather, Islam is sort of a blend. The 'peace' part of slam does not mean throw down your arms and hug the enemy. It means peace with yourself, so the human race can make the transition from apes to intelligent creatures. Islam was not involved in the Salem Witch Trials, The Dark Ages, and was itself a victim of imperialism and colonialism which erased most remnants of the former cultural and scientific glory of the middle eastern countries. Islam also does not dictate anybody's life. I am muslim, yet I do not ride a camel to work, engage in war with nonbelievers, or attack women who are not veiled. And most of the Islamic community wouldn't either. My point is that the word "muslim" is not a collective word that labels everyone adhered to it as evil. The Qu'uran itself was written vaguely so that future generations could interpret it differently with each era passing. Nor did I say that Muslims are all perfect and spawn rainbows from our beards and whatnot. I just see so many people thrown into a frenzy whenever they see or hear the word Arab/Islam/Muslim. We are not the root of evil. The root of all evil is the inhumane killers such as Bachar Al Assad who has killed over 15,000 people in just 15 months (an average of 1000 people a month) with the help of his entourage, Binyamin Netanyahu who, although is doing a great job trying to prevent civilian casualties, failed to take care of the actual reason people are shooting rockets into the empty desert: because he is starving the people of Gaza from regular needs such as clean water and food, and whoever is behind Al Quaeda and the other "Islamic" terrorist groups who turned the term Islam into a word that can make people rant on and on about how Muslims are 7th century bigots killers and "camel riding towelheads".
Politics =/= Religion. We learned that with Europe in the Dark Ages where over 3 million people were killed for religious purposes and the Crusades who used the pretext of religion to provide one of the first examples of propaganda in Western Society, provoking 100s of thousands of men to go to a strange land that never did affect them in any way to fight for something that never really did help them out directly
People seem to keep forgetting that this is infighting. It may very well be about beliefs, but those that are killing each other are of the same religion in most cases.
This is a POLITICAL struggle, and rather violent one, which Assad insists is not a popular uprising while he shells entire towns.
Go figure.
Those destructive nutballs are not simple "terrorists" but authentic beasts from hell. May their father Lucifer soon take them back with him to the everlasting burning fires of Hell.
"terrorists" title use in the artical to the gunman who if were in Poland during Germany occupation would of been called a freedom fighter. Your minds have been twisted by hate of islam.
Remeber they are fighting a dictator.
To JR:
If you are fighting to overthrow an evil dictator's armed forces you may be called a freedom fighter. Murdering unarmed media reporters / office workers, you are an islamic terrorist and of course a complete coward. Censure the press and the blind are easily led to the slaughter, for they shall never know the truth.
Of course in allah's eyes, which are obviously blinded by hatred and ignorance, everyone with an opposing opinion is just another target. Armed or not. The evil virus commonly known as islam is a mental plague upon the Earth and the innocents will never be safe until it is completely eradicated.
With most barbaric, autocratic, despotic, corrupt and bigoted Sunni Saudi outfits like al-Qaida, MB, Turkey and others helping Syrian rebels, this is no big deal.
Assad's father quelled the Sunni rebellion after years of battle. It will not be easy to dislodge Assad.
Russia and China will play their games.
Assad, is compartively one of the best ME Muslim rulers.
If atrocities and barbarism on girls, children and women are the criteria, then the most despotic, autocratic and bigoted Sunni Saudi ruler with his 5000 princes and princesses, Kuwaiti, UAE and other Arab League Sunni rulers and their rich sheiks are the biggest culprits in the history.
In killing of opponents again, these people have established world records.
Let us keep miles away from the ME Sunni vs Shiites battles.
If we take too much sides, both will join in hating us just as during Iraqi wars!
This whole thing is getting so far out of hand it is unbelievable. These people make Nazis look like angels.
And American's supporting such the terrorists.
Now ask me why I hate americans ?
Just curious: by that do you mean the government forces or
al quaedathe rebels????? Seems to me we're making the wise decision to stay out of it."the world's strongest millitary allience was antogonized today ... "
Poor military alliance ... they were antagonized today ((
When will the world understand that some countries have a evil dictator for a reason. Some people are borderline savages that will follow the quran blindly like sheep
Next target the Chinese followed by the Russians.
Regrettably, this kind of monstrous insanity is what can occur when first cousins marry over 50 generations (1,400 years). And the Alawites are deeply and closely consanguineous. That is why you don't want nukes and chemical weapons in that region. It's madness and they are on a self-destruct.
GOOD!!! HURRAY!!! The brave fighters of Syria, going up against a well armed, professional army that is used to commit genocide against innocent civilians, women, and children. Rape, murder, torture. Assad is doomed. He has ignited a fire he can not put out. I can't wait until Assad is gone and THEN we will see what Hezbollah, Hamas, the Iranians, Russians, & Chinese have to say ABOUT their support for Assad. The end is near.
When they're done with Ass-Head's "pro-government media" they can come over here and take care of Hussein's Drivel spewers. NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, MessNBC, etc.
Just like Assad lied about this attack actually happening, Alan lied about having any idea of what is going on in America. Just one more racist Republican who can't ever accept a Democrat or a Mixed-Race man as having won the presidency, so he spews hate talk instead of argues politics. No one cares what they said at your last Klan meeting, Alan.
Oh Pugiron, aren't you getting tired of calling conservatives "haters"? I mean, the race card doesn't work anymore. Democrats spew just as much hate as Republicans. This country is divided. You stand left, I stand right. Nothing anyone says is going to make us budge.
in this case, right is wrong. Bible thumping, gun toting, racist rednecks are turning this country into a nation of idiots.
So, no outside verification of the attack actually occurring?
As some of the other posters have noted: yes Assad is a dictator - but when he is overthrown, what is going to take his place? Just more of the islamic insanity, back to the dark ages with women confined into the house, no education, no outside influences - yes, the majority will rule, with a knife and their holy book. Sometimes a dictator is the best option - beware!
Where is the U.N. condemning the Muslims for killing the innocent?
Why are they not sending support and demanding that the rebels lay down their weapons and end this civil war?
The U.N. is afraid of the Muslims and they prove it every day they support the rebels and condemn the current government.
Why is the U.N. siding with Turkey who is now the new instigator in this conflict and siding with the Muslims to make the conflict in favor of the Muslims?
Religion is the only thing that is driving this civil war and the Islam religion is the most dangerous religion in the world today.
So what it boils down to is the U.N. is supporting one religion over another. That goes 100% against what the U.N. is suppose to be doing. So why are we still a part of the U.N.?
I notice that the countries of Russia and China doesn't dare to go against these Muslim countries that extremist in the views and over the top religion. What are they affraid of? What does Muslim countries have from them, that they don't dare to say anything or do anything agaisnt them? What documents they all what signed that if Russia or China talks against them their reputation will be in ruins? Why the UNITED NATIONS have not investigated this situations and more?
That's because the have a quadrillion million barrel's of oil fool!
Amerikan cia operatives are leading the syrian free army and WE THE UNITED STATES of zionism are responsible for this.
Syria would have continued to be a WORKING country if it were not attacked by the CIA and its cronies as in Libya. This is a disgusting display of manipulation all the while pointing a finger at the Syrian government ad accusing them of all sorts of things.
Don't believe this well oiled machine you see and hear. Remember that you are not hearing the other side AT ALL.... I was shocked when I heard what the "free syrian army" is doing and making it look like the government is doing it. And the amerikan press isn't even talking about that at all. Of course not. All the jews in amerika don't want the Syrian government to continue on at all. ANYTHING to strengthen israel and weaken its enemies.
You have been hoodwinked. Don't fall for it and spew out the same lame crappy jokes. None of you are witty or clever. Most of you are idiots actually
They sure are a bunch of "fun lovin" people over there.
Before reading the posts, I was thinking about how Obama would get put into the conversation. I see though that someone did bring him up. Ha ha. In fairness though, you didn't say that if Romney were president he'd only be concerned about the Syrians that make more than $250K/ yr. Ha ha again.
It was just a matter of time that Siria and other future Islamic/Muslim countries will fall because of their own bad influences that their own government has. I do feel sorry for the women, children, young generation and elderly people that they have to suffered because of their evil government and many whom still want a government like that in power.
Joke of the day: Dianarose 3452256
"Because their own bad influences their governments have." (Where you 'bean' all your life, Pilgrim? LOL!
Evil governments? Hey Bubba, you're sitting on the most evil MF'n country in the Galazy. "Oh, but we landed in Normany and Iwo Jima and saved the world!!!' (Go stand in the coner with your dunce hat on idiot. (That was the 'Good' America - who died after WW II).
I can see that in this post that there are people whom do not want to see the TRUTH.
(((Yawn)))
you can't stop the fighting in the middle east it's been going on for thousands of years they hate each other. we need to step back and let them kill each other off
Problem is the Great Satan gives one side the F-16's, Apache gunships, JDAMS and missiles - and the other side (basically unarmed Palestinians) it helps disarm. Yassar, the (new - not so fair play) AmeriKKKan way of promoting Jewish terrorism!
Oh, but the preferred side might lose!
Then what would the Great Satan do?
Shiites and Sunnis should battle each other to the end without taking the help of infidels like the US, UK and European nations.
If they take the help, then Allah will be furious.
"Many in the opposition consider the media an arm of the regime. Syria does not have a free press and most news organizations are either state-run or private bodies that carry the government's point of view. Most of the private TV stations and newspapers are owned by politicians or wealthy businessmen who have close links to the regime".
Sounds like they are talking about the U.S.A.
Where is the CONDEMNATION by the US and UN of these murders of civilians by those TERRORISTS.
The United Snakes (US/Israel/NATO) never apologize for their war crimes. Remember Vietnem, Laos, Cambodia, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Panama, Grenada, Chile, Bolivia, AF/PAK, Somalia, Yemen and places on earth only known to God?
You don't go 'round condemning yourself for your own war crimes, Pilgrim!
Even no a word for blaming those terrorists who killed 7 innocent people in the TV studio?
Who said american press is free and democratic? They ready to close eyes on the terrorism attacks as such. No matter is that was armed opposition or ... Would that be Okay if happens in US by armed opposition?
To answer your question: The United Snakes (US/Israel/NATO) 'rebel's' are responsible for the TV station bombing and most of the massacred civilians in Syria. (Have you forgotten their same handiwork in Libya, you fool!!!!).
Rule #1: Never screw with the biggest thug in the galaxy. Rule #2: If you have any doubts go see what the scumbag did to 3.9m innocents in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. And if that seems too long ago, look and see what he did to 1.4m Iraqi citizens who's only crime was having the 2nd larget oil reserves on the planet. And, if you're still not convinced go see what his 'illegal' white phosphorus, DIME, MK-77 napalm did to some 300,000 men, women and children in AF/PAK, Somalia, Yemen and Palestinians in Gaza (Yup, that other baby killing MF'er - The Great Satans Jewish hemmorhoid, I call them) play that same game of 'Murder, Maim, Snatch people's land and water and murder babies as little as, still in their mothers tummy, if you know what I mean. Yup, when Reverend Jerimiah Wright said "God damn AmeriKKKa.' he wasn't whistling Dixie. When the Great Satan murdered innocents in the unprovoked attack on the Al Jazeera TV station where the poor fools were making the mistake of their lives: Telling and showing the photos of the Great Satan's murder of unarmed men, women and children in Kubal, Afghanistan. And, just about when the military spokemen had convinced 'most' everyone that this had been a 'pure' accident they 'did it again' in Iraq where Al Jazeera was 'again' showing the world what 'monster' AmeriKKKa was doing to Iraqi civilians. Yes, yes, I know, many of you GED drop-outs' hollar and cheer to these war crimes when your country is doing it's Nazi Gestapo act. But, stop and think, your (((bouncing))) baby has just been (((shreaded))) by a crimianl use of a Predator and three AGM-17 Hellfire missiles in your simple mud hut - and you were just guilty of being (((pronounced))) a terrorist (on the way to kill our soldiers - as the murderous Israeli IDF war criminals puts it when they massacre a Palestinian mother waving the white flag of surrender in one hand and holding her 3 week old' Bambino' in her other arm - what to do?! Well, you cheer and hollar and feel like a 'reel' patriot - But, indeed, you're as big a war criminal as the low lifes that commit these war crimes. I think Reverend Jeramiah Wright said it best: "God damn AmeriKKKa.' Any questions, Pilgrims? (I didn't think so, huh killa's).
Note to FBI and CIA, might want to check Tombstone Arizona for a homegrown Islamic terrorist. Sounds like he's off his meds today. No telling what this rag head is capable of doing.