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1 of 38Feb. 20, 2012. A mother and her children cry over the loss of her other two sons, killed by a mortar attack launched by Al Assad forces, in Homs province.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
2 of 38Feb. 20, 2012. Two Syrian men carry the body of a child who has been killed by an Al Assad army mortar in Homs Province.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
3 of 38Feb. 20, 2012. Five dead bodies of civilians killed by a mortar, among them two children, lie in a refrigerator used by the resistance as a morgue in Homs Province.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
4 of 38Feb. 20, 2012. The feet of one of the five dead bodies of civilians killed by a mortar explosion in his house, Homs Province.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
5 of 38Feb. 20, 2012. Three Muslims pray among hundreds of people attending the funeral of five people killed by a mortar attack launched by Al Assad forces, in Homs Province.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
6 of 38Feb. 20, 2012. Men prepare the graves of three shaheed (martyrs) killed by a mortar attack launched by Al Assad forces, among them two children, in Homs Province.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
7 of 38Feb. 22, 2012. Syrian men take a heavily wounded man into a house used as a hospital in Homs Province.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
8 of 38Feb. 22, 2012. A patient lies down in the entrance of a house used as a hospital in Homs Province.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
9 of 38Feb. 20, 2012. A child watches an anti-regime demonstration in Homs Province.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
10 of 38Feb. 23, 2012. A Free Syrian Army member prepares to fight with a tank whose crew defected from government forces in al-Qsair.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
11 of 38Feb. 22, 2012. Rebels try to start the motor of a tank whose crew defected from government forces in Homs Province.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
12 of 38Feb. 22, 2012. Rebels run away from heavy shelling in Homs Province.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
13 of 38Feb. 23, 2012. A Syrian civilian shows the smoke of burning tires in a street close to combats between Free Syrian Army and Al Assad forces in al-Qsair.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
14 of 38Feb. 23, 2012. A child stands in a street as Al Assad Forces shell the city of al-Qsair.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
15 of 38Feb. 24, 2012. A Free Syrian Army fighter is seen as he aims at an Al Assad Forces position in al-Qsair.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
16 of 38Feb. 24, 2012. Free Syrian Army fighters run to approach a former Al Assad Forces position in the outskirts of al-Qsair.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
17 of 38Feb. 9, 2012. The dead body of a Free Syrian Army fighter lies in an storage refrigerator in al-Qsair.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
18 of 38Feb. 10, 2012. A Syrian man walks inside the former police station in al-Qsair. After a one-day battle, the Free Syrian Army managed to take control of the building.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
19 of 38Feb. 10, 2012. The old Syrian flag waves on the roof of the former police station in al-Qsair.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
20 of 38Feb. 10, 2012. A member of the Free Syrian Army takes cover from Syrian Army snipers on the roof of the former police station in al-Qsair.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
21 of 38Feb. 10, 2012. The building of the former police station in al-Qsair.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
22 of 38Feb. 10, 2012. The body of a Syrian police member lies on the ground in front of the former police station in al-Qsair. Eleven members of the Syrian police were killed.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
23 of 38Feb. 9, 2012. A Syrian woman stands among the rubble of her house, destroyed by a Syrian Army mortar, in al-Qsair.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
24 of 38Feb. 7, 2012. During a funeral, Syrian women throw pieces of colored paper towards the coffin of a member of the Free Syrian Army in al-Qsair.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
25 of 38Feb. 7, 2012. Mourners at the funeral of a member of the Free Syrian Army.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
26 of 38Feb. 9, 2012. A woman and her sons in front of their house, which was destroyed by a Syrian Army mortar, in al-Qsair.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
27 of 38Feb. 9, 2012. A member of the Free Syrian Army prays near a Free Syrian Army checkpoint in al-Qsair.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
28 of 38Feb. 9, 2012. A Free Syrian Army sniper position, in al-Qsair.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
29 of 38Feb. 10, 2012. A man waves the old Syrian flag in front of the former police station in al-Qsair.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
30 of 38Feb. 9, 2012. A man displays part of a mortar lauched by the Syrian Army that destroyed the house behind him, in al-Qsair.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
31 of 38Feb. 10, 2012. A portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad among the trash in al-Qsair.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
32 of 38Feb. 11, 2012. A member of the Free Syrian Army in al-Qsair.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
33 of 38Feb. 14, 2012. A doctor examines the x-rays of a man who was shot in the back by a Syrian sniper inside a home being used as a hospital in al-Qsair.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
34 of 38Feb. 14, 2012. Syrians mourn over the body of a man who they say was kidnapped, then killed by the shabiha, armed regime loyalists.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
35 of 38Feb. 14, 2012. Syrian women mourn over the body of a man who they say was kidnapped, then killed by the shabiha, armed regime loyalists. His body was abandoned on a main street in al-Qsair.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
36 of 38Feb. 14, 2012. A Syrian man (center) digs the grave for his father who, along with two other men, was kidnapped, then killed by the shabiha, in al-Qsair.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
37 of 38Feb. 14, 2012. Syrians prepare the graves for the three men.Alessio Romenzi for TIME -
38 of 38Feb. 14, 2012. Thousands attend the funeral in al-Qsair.Alessio Romenzi for TIME
UPDATED MARCH 1, 2012
Photographer Alessio Romenzi, who risked his life over and over again to bear witness to the civilian casualties in the cities of Homs and al-Qsair, has managed to safely cross the border into Lebanon from Syria. Romenzi, on assignment for TIME, has filed new photographs, which have been added to the gallery above, from the embattled country where he spent more than a month. Speaking to TIME from Beirut, Romenzi said it was bittersweet to leave Syria. “I spent so much time with such amazing, amazing human beings,” he said. “I had the privilege to go out. They are still inside the shame.”
FEB. 15 — The forces of President Bashar Assad have been relentless. They have continued to pound the predominantly Sunni enclave of Bab Amr in the city of Homs. They have struck at the rebellious town of Zabadani near the Lebanese border. Damascus is believed to be planting landmines near the Lebanese and Turkish borders even as the regime masses more troops nearby to deal with insurrectionists in the Idlib region in the northwest of the country. Meanwhile, in al-Qsair, a town south of Homs, government marksmen continued to take their toll. Says Alessio Romenzi, a photographer on assignment in the area for TIME: “The snipers do not sleep.”
Romenzi continues to document the work of the Free Syrian Army, a loose franchise of militias who are trying to coordinate their disparate campaigns against the Bashar government. Slowly, they are gathering weapons—though the increased demand for guns has kicked up the prices of Kalashnikovs. TIME’s Rania Abouzeid spent a day with FSA sympathizers trying to manufacture improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to use against Damascus’ forces. Other FSA cells have already started using their own strung together versions of IEDs. The targets may include military trucks which will then be used to block roads to impede government supply lines. But most of all, they hope the IEDs will stop Assad’s tanks, which have been used not only to blast rebel emplacements but also reportedly to crush the regime’s opponents—physically.
More photographs from Syria by Alessio Romenzi can be seen here.
Read more about the situation in Syria in the magazine: Syria’s Clashing Armies
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