Although protestors around the world, particularly in Syria and Egypt, vowed to temporarily forego their demonstrations in honor of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the Syrian army attacked the city of Hama, killing at least 113 people just one day before the month of fasting and prayer began. The army used primarily tanks to attack the citizens, resulting in one of the deadliest instances of violence since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. .
Inspired by the recent events in Tunisia and Egypt, Syrian citizens began a campaign to overthrow the government nearly four months ago. However, al-Assad dismisses the "armed saboteur groups" who he believes are participating in a conspiracy against the government. Since the campaign began, thousands of citizens have been killed, although the exact number is hard to define because Syria has banned all international media. In fact, the army typically fires at citizens who attempt to film any of the action. .
Undeterred, the general public is still taking to the streets to protest the government. Frustrated by the fact that their actions have not made any impact on the protests, the Syrian government has become even more violent in order to get their way. Joshua Landis, a Syria specialist associated with the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, said al-Assad's regime "has been very frightened by Ramadan's onset." Interestingly, the government feared that the uprising would worsen throughout the holy month, despite the fact that protestors announced their plans to take a break. .
"The unfolding crackdown is going to fuel people's anger more, there is no doubt about it," said Landis. "Clearly the regime believes they have got to use more force and they have to get on top of this before it expands into more towns and gets beyond the capabilities of the security forces to be in all places at all times" (Derhally).