tartvf

yoyo · @tartvf

8th Jun 2012 from Twitlonger

memo








Everyone in #Damascus is on edge. In suburbs you see whitewashed walls to cover anti Gov slogans. There's sporadic gunfire at night. (1/2)

Even people who thought they were immune to the attentions of #Syrian security in #Damascus are now getting pulled in for questioning (2/2)

Damascus is waiting to see if Friday prayers will bring protests to the streets

Just before the sign saying 'Welcome to Hama' there is a bombed out bridge hanging over the road #Syria

Am on the outskirts of Hama on way to UN but have been stopped at a checkpoint. A test of one of the six points in the plan. Media freedom

Clear evidence of previous fighting as we drove through Rasdan into Hama

UN are waiting for us few minutes down the road. We are waiting to get our passports and accreditation back. #syria

N mission is on the phone to checkpoint commander trying to get us through. We are attempting to join them to investigate Qubeir killings

This is actually an ok checkpoint hold up. No where near the drugged up child soldiers we used to have to negotiate in Sierra Leone

And we're through!

The streets of Hama are deserted aside from occasional checkpoints. And we've been stopped again!

Frustrating UN just driven past us but soldiers wouldn't let us join them

And we through again after a lecture from a soldier saying " we don't you care about the terrorists killing us aren't we human too?"

Sandbagged checkpoints on almost every corner in Hama

Am now on outskirts of Qubeir #Syria where Wednesday's massacre took place. The UN has sent in a forward team to assess the safety situation

Qubeir is in a very rural area. Individual houses are seperated by large fields of corn.

There are only 130 people living in the tiny village of Qubeir. I can see the farmhouses but we are still waiting to be taken down #Syria

If it wasn't for the misery we believe waits for us at the bottom of this hill you would describe Qubier as an idyllic spot. (1/3) #syria

illlage were the killings took place is just a few single story flat roofed buildings set in the middle of golden corn fields (2/3) #Syria

But the beauty of this land hides a growing sectarian conflict that seems to be spiraling out of control in #Syria (3/3)

A man called Ahmed has come up from the village who says he witnessed the killings. He has says dozens were killed. #syria

He has a badly bruised face but his story is conflicted & the UN say they are not sure he's honest as they think he followed the convoy

Illustrates how are it is to get the truth here in #Syria and how tough the UN mission is

We are now driving down into the village of Qubier snaking along small deserted dirt roads #Syria

We went down into a valley & we've headed up towards a handful of small squat buildings. One seems to have a hole blown out by an RPG

The roads are so rocky our car is having trouble climbing them

We are here. In front of a burnt out building is carcass of a donkey inside the buildings are gutted. The UN have not found any people yet

n front of me there is a piece of brain, in the corner there is a mass on congealed blood. This is a house in Qubeir #Syria

The largest of the two houses on the hill top in Qubeir has been gutted by fire. The stench of burnt flesh is still strong

We are hurtling through deserted towns on our way to Damascus. The driver is scared. When we entered some areas he puts his foot down #Syria

Occasionally i've seen a burnt out vehicle or a fortified bridge. The sun is going down & what I haven't seen is people

"We've got to cross this dangerous areas we must go fast" the driver says.

But we have to stop there's a checkpoint and we are being waved down

hese guys are fine, we've been let through

The flies found the evidence of the Qubier massacre before UN got there. They buzzed & swooped around what remained of the tiny community

The first house had been gutted by fire but the stench of burnt flesh still hung heavy in the air. The scene in next house was even worse.

Blood was in pools around the room. Pieces of flesh lay among the scattered possession.

Butchering the people didn't satisfy the blood lust of the attackers so they killed the live stock too. Their carcasses rotting in the sun

The only clue to where the bodies of the people may have gone are etched into the road. UN said they were tracks made by military vehicles

Who ever did this may have acted with mindless violence but attempts to cover up the detaills of the atrocity are calculated & clear #Syria

There is a huge plume of black smoke hanging over Damascus and we are being diverted away from the central highway. I'm trying to find o ...

There is huge plume of black smoke hanging over Damascus & we are being diverted away from the central highway. I'm trying to find out why

Dead live stock outside the houses in Qubier #Syria http://pic.twitter.com/rsv1sNPv

Bridge damaged in fighting just as we enter Hama #Syria http://pic.twitter.com/liRF1qBg

The scene inside the gutted house in Qubier #Syria where the stench of burnt flesh was still strong http://pic.twitter.com/Clnemr2f

RT “@BBCNewshour: Audioboo: BBC's Paul Danahar in Qubeir http://boo.fm/b838086 #bbc #massacre #syria #qubeir #atrocity”

Video from inside one of the houses in Qubier in #Syria where massacre too place on Tuesday http://yfrog.us/4769bz

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