SYRIAN UPRISING Charleston Family Reacts to Friends and Relatives Suffering in Middle East
Reported by: Deborah Linz
Videographer: Larry Clark
Web Producer: Deborah Linz
Reported: Oct. 9, 2012 3:48 PM EDT
Updated: Oct. 9, 2012 5:05 PM EDT
EYEWITNESS ONLINE WEBCAST VIDEO C L I C K T O P L A Y
Charleston
, Kanawha County
, West Virginia
The Middle Eastern country of Syria is in the midst of a bloody uprising. September 26th was the deadliest single day of the 18-month-long uprising against the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad. More than 300 people were killed. There are at least 50 Syrian families currently living in Charleston. Eyewitness News Anchor Deborah Linz spoke with one family fearing for the safety of friends and relatives.
Dana Shammaa is distressed at the continued violence in her family's homeland of Syria. She says her friends and family live in constant fear.
"They can't go outside. They are in constant ear shot of gun fire and bombings."
For the past 18 months Syria's government, ruled by dictator, Bashar Al Assad, has been battling rebels fighting for freedom. According to the United Nations, Syria's human rights situation has become one of the worst in the world. Shammaa said her cousin's family, including three children, were murdered in their own home.
"They were slaughtered, their bodies mutilated beyond recognition."
Dana and her mother say the recent killings of children is especially painful. Children are purposely being targeted. Thousands have been tortured, raped and killed.
International diplomacy has failed to stop the bloodshed in Syria. More than 30-thousand people have been killed in the last year and a half and 300-thousand refugees have fled to bordering countries.
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Deborah Linz
