Harem, a town of some 20,000, miles from the Turkish border has seen heavy fighting for some two weeks. FSA units have almost surrounded the Syrian Army inside an ancient citadel above Harem, but the Army is using helicopter and plane airpower to attack rebel positions below. Also, Shabiha (Assad gangs) allegedly control the central road leading to the citadel. The FSA have tried to mount coordinated attacks using mortars from the mountains and anti-aircraft guns aimed at the citadel. On Oct 30-31 we observed several FSA wounded and at least three killed in the fighting. Meanwhile the town is without electricity or running water.
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Shot this video over two weeks in August when war had just crashed into Aleppo. Already, the deadly front lines had formed in Salahaddin neighborhood facing Syrian Army positions in Hamdania across the street. Tank shells pounded the rebels hunkered in abandoned apartments. Later a group of fighters rolled in the neighborhood of Izaa and began a night attack on a TV station occupied by regime forces. The fight for Izaa is still ongoing as of November. The neighborhood is completely destroyed. The regime refuses to let it go as it strategically overlooks most of Aleppo.
One day an air strike in the neighborhood of Bustan al Qasr collapsed the roof of a family apartment. I interviewed a brother trying to find the bodies of his nieces and nephews who lived upstairs. There were seven dead from the Querea family- a 15 year old son, an 8 year old daughter, 8 year old cousin and a one year old baby boy. All killed when a fighter jet dropped a bomb on their apartment.
It’s hard to understand the Syrian regime is targeting men, women and children with such careless brutality. We’ve become numbed by news reports featuring bloody activists videos. It wasn’t until I saw the shrouds, the dismembered corpses, just pieces of bodies blown apart by mortars launched at random into a city of 100,000 after evening prayers, that I felt it is inevitably true across Syria.
SARAQEB, Syria — By late March, the Free Syrian Army in this restive city was bracing for trouble.
Although the rebels had controlled Saraqeb for months, government troops had just finished their conquest of surrounding cities, including the provincial capital, Idlib. Saraqeb would no doubt be next, attacked by forces far better equipped than the rebels. Rebel commanders had heard the tanks were coming on the military radio channel they monitored.
On the crisp, sunny morning of March 24, they saw the ominous sign of a full-blown government assault. A column of T-72 tanks rolled into the city center, emerging and disappearing between the city’s street blocks.
Read on Globalpost
BANI WALID – This tribal city of approximately 100,000 captured the world’s attention in September 2011 when it was reported that loyalists here were harboring Saif Islam Gaddafi, who fled to the mountainous region after the fall of Tripoli.
Thousands of rebel groups from western Libya descended in heavily armed trucks to smash the loyalist hold outs and capture Saif. They didn’t get him.
Bani Walid sits on a series of hills that provide excellent cover for snipers and range for rocket launchers. Hundreds of rebels were killed and wounded in attempts to assault the city head on. Bani Walid only surrendered after rebels gained controlled over most of its center and destroyed hundreds of buildings on October 17.
Battle for Sirte from Sept.-Oct. 2011
James W. Foley is a freelance text and video reporter covering conflict. He has covered wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria. Foley has been published and broadcast by Globalpost, AFP, CNN, CBS, PBS. 
