Exclusive: As Assad's forces near a town that has lost 11 fighters, the resistance, although afraid, prepares to fight again
Ghaith Abdul-Ahad in Benish
guardian.co.uk, Friday 9 December 2011
"Twice the army had come to Benish. On the first occasion they arrested more than 70 people, demonstrators, old and young. The lucky ones were released after two months. Some are still missing. On the second occasion the people fought back, with hunting rifles, old guns, stones even. When the security forces withdrew there were 21 dead: 11 demonstrators and 10 pro-regime fighters.
The people had won their liberty, temporarily at least. Buildings were covered with anti-regime slogans. "Benish is free," reads graffiti scrawled with red paint on a whitewashed town wall. In the middle of the market square is a huge revolutionary flag in green and black and adorned with three red stars: it is the old Syrian flag, the one that predates the Assads.
But this freedom is precarious. The security forces are gathering once again at the town's margins. Today, as in other hotspots in Syria's nine-month uprising, this is a town under siege, surrounded by tanks and roadblocks manned by the army, police and pro-regime militias.
This menacing array does not dampen the revolutionary fervour. By night crowds gather in the town centre. More than 100 men stand in rows waving their hands and chanting...."
Ghaith Abdul-Ahad in Benish
guardian.co.uk, Friday 9 December 2011
"Twice the army had come to Benish. On the first occasion they arrested more than 70 people, demonstrators, old and young. The lucky ones were released after two months. Some are still missing. On the second occasion the people fought back, with hunting rifles, old guns, stones even. When the security forces withdrew there were 21 dead: 11 demonstrators and 10 pro-regime fighters.
The people had won their liberty, temporarily at least. Buildings were covered with anti-regime slogans. "Benish is free," reads graffiti scrawled with red paint on a whitewashed town wall. In the middle of the market square is a huge revolutionary flag in green and black and adorned with three red stars: it is the old Syrian flag, the one that predates the Assads.
But this freedom is precarious. The security forces are gathering once again at the town's margins. Today, as in other hotspots in Syria's nine-month uprising, this is a town under siege, surrounded by tanks and roadblocks manned by the army, police and pro-regime militias.
This menacing array does not dampen the revolutionary fervour. By night crowds gather in the town centre. More than 100 men stand in rows waving their hands and chanting...."
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