Syria: Seven Killed As Gunmen Storm Pro-Assad Tv Station

[News_Editor]

Syria: Seven killed as gunmen storm pro-Assad TV station < br />

2012-06-28 19:24:23 GMT+7 (ICT)

DAMASCUS, SYRIA (BNO NEWS) -- Gunmen stormed a commercial pro-government television station near the Syrian capital of Damascus on early Wednesday, killing seven people and destroying several buildings, government officials said on Wednesday. The account could not be independently verified.

The attack occurred on Wednesday morning when a group of armed men stormed the offices of al-Ikhbariya television, which are located about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) south of the capital Damascus. The attackers fired RPG shells, planted explosive devices and executed people.

"The terrorists assassinated a number of journalists, media men and technicians of the channel and its security guards," Syria's information ministry said in a statement. "'They also planted many explosive charges in the news studio, the administration offices and the technical equipment rooms which completely destroyed them, then set fire to the remaining offices and tied a number of the workers and shot them dead, and abducted others"

Government officials said seven people were killed, including three journalists and four security guards. The journalists were identified as Sami Abu Amin, Zaid Kahl and Mohammad Shamma, but the names of the four security guards were not immediately released. No details were given about workers who were apparently abducted.

"The repeated attempts to silence and prevent the Syrian media from delivering the full truth honestly and directly to the Syrian, Arab and world public opinion will end in failure based on the creativity of this free media supported by the decent Syrian people," the ministry added, calling the attack an "evil act of aggression" against press freedom.

Photos distributed by the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) showed several buildings which were completely destroyed by the blasts and resulting fires, but details about the attack could not be independently verified due to reporting restrictions imposed on foreign journalists.

The Paris-based organization Reporters Without Borders, which advocates for freedom of the press, strongly condemned the attack. "United Nations observers must visit the scene where we hope they will be able to ascertain the circumstances of the attack and the identities of the three people killed," it said in a statement.

The organization said neither parties involved in the Syrian conflict should target news organizations, but it also criticized the television channel involved. "We deplore in the strongest possible terms the broadcast by the media of messages inciting hatred and violence against civilians," it said. "Media organizations must not act as mouthpieces for propaganda of any kind."

The al-Ikhbaryia channel, which continued broadcasting following the attack, is pro-government and has been supportive of Bashar Assad's regime.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2012-06-28

[maidu]

Very sad and symptomatic of a civil war (what's 'civil' about war?). They should have herded the journalists elsewhere and destroyed the infrastructure. Dumb asses.

The recurrent thought is what can outsiders do - to try and restore peace? It's a tough Q to answer because the Syrian hierchy has its tentacles in all nearby countries, and beyond. Assad is proving, every day, what a nasty person he is for prolonging the suffering of the Syrians. If he doesn't get lynched, he will surely get put away for life by the Court at the Hague, for crimes against humanity. That law was tailor made for dickheads like him.

Calls for 'outside intervention' are thinly veiled calls for US to get involved. US military could shut down Syria's military in 20 minutes. Yet, we've seen what happens whenever US gets involved somewhere overseas. Inevitable quagmire, then on-going bickering about what a bully the US is, ad nauseum. Sorry to say, the problem in Syria is for Syrians to try and fix.

[Steely Dan]

I think the dam is about to burst.

http://www.debka.com/article/22145/Saudis-forces-mass-on-Jordanian-Iraqi-borders-Turkey-Syria-reinforce-strength

The Syrian crisis was Friday, June 29, on a knife edge between a Western-Arab-Turkish military offensive in the next 48 hours and a big power accord to ward it off.

[Morch]

I think the dam is about to burst.

http://www.debka.com...nforce-strength

The Syrian crisis was Friday, June 29, on a knife edge between a Western-Arab-Turkish military offensive in the next 48 hours and a big power accord to ward it off.

There were ongoing reports about forces moving closer to possible confrontation area over the last weeks, not to say months.

The actual report regarding the Syrian forces stated that the purpose of the build up might be an attack on rebel held towns in the area, not necessarily an all out attack on Turkey. Either way, this wasn't confirmed (unless I missed it) by any other source.

Debka routinely publishes so-called exclusive and detailed alarmist reports. Quite often with supposed deadlines. Happily, those rarely materialize. True to form, they never ever own up to these reports.

[maidu]

Interesting that, in this time of 'eye-in-the-sky' satellites, The US, in particular, can see mobilizations. At least once, in the past couple weeks, US State Dept has notified whomever (most particularly, rebel Syrians and civilians in those locales) of Syrian military build-ups. I'd assume the primary purpose of getting the word out, is to try and lessen civilian casualties. It puts a new twist on modern warfare.

[Steely Dan]

I think the dam is about to burst.

http://www.debka.com...nforce-strength

The Syrian crisis was Friday, June 29, on a knife edge between a Western-Arab-Turkish military offensive in the next 48 hours and a big power accord to ward it off.

There were ongoing reports about forces moving closer to possible confrontation area over the last weeks, not to say months.

The actual report regarding the Syrian forces stated that the purpose of the build up might be an attack on rebel held towns in the area, not necessarily an all out attack on Turkey. Either way, this wasn't confirmed (unless I missed it) by any other source.

Debka routinely publishes so-called exclusive and detailed alarmist reports. Quite often with supposed deadlines. Happily, those rarely materialize. True to form, they never ever own up to these reports.

I can't argue with that, however the MSM or even governments for that matter get it comically wrong whilst seldom being held accountable. At least with Debka there is no PC filter to further confuse what's going on.

[folium]

The problem with Debka, and which further undermines their credibility, is that they make a great deal of themselves being ex-Mossad with great sources and contacts. No one sane expects journalists to be experts and governments are routinely economical with the truth. There is never perfect information and everyone makes mistakes, that's just the messy nature of harsh reality.

Talking of information gathering at least NATO has the world's largest "aircraft carrier" permanently moored conveniently close to Syria, and with its airfield and wide array of intelligence assets will be working overtime at present. At least the poor guys who seem to have gone down with the Turkish recce flight would have provided a feast of information as the Syrian radar systems lit up.

[Morch]

I think the dam is about to burst.

http://www.debka.com...nforce-strength

The Syrian crisis was Friday, June 29, on a knife edge between a Western-Arab-Turkish military offensive in the next 48 hours and a big power accord to ward it off.

There were ongoing reports about forces moving closer to possible confrontation area over the last weeks, not to say months.

The actual report regarding the Syrian forces stated that the purpose of the build up might be an attack on rebel held towns in the area, not necessarily an all out attack on Turkey. Either way, this wasn't confirmed (unless I missed it) by any other source.

Debka routinely publishes so-called exclusive and detailed alarmist reports. Quite often with supposed deadlines. Happily, those rarely materialize. True to form, they never ever own up to these reports.

I can't argue with that, however the MSM or even governments for that matter get it comically wrong whilst seldom being held accountable. At least with Debka there is no PC filter to further confuse what's going on.

That's a nice blanket argument for every tinfoil/conspiracy theory/alarmist website with an agenda out there. Serious media outlets do retract false stories or publish explanations. They do not rely almost exclusively on unidentified sources.

[Scott]

News sources are sources of information. Take it or leave it.

Arguments about the sources are generally off-topic.

Let's move on.