DAY 439 - MAY 28, 2012
The Assad regime massacres over 100 people in the Al Houla area of Homs, 49 of which are children. The world is stunned and horrified, drawing outrage from human rights groups. In addition, after continuing protests, the Syrian Army raids Aleppo University, using tear gas and live ammunition in the dormitories. Despite a UN ceasefire that was brokered by Kofi Annan, fighting continues to intensify in all major cities in Syria. In Damascus, shopkeepers have closed their stores in regime areas in ardent protests against government actions.
You have made it, with Emad and Yara, through the desert to Deir Ez Zor. Several wives of the opposition recognize your husband's name when you mention it and they offer to give you and your children shelter. They confirm the inevitable to you, that your husband has been killed, but from what they have heard, he was a brave soldier, which makes you proud of him. The women tell you about a petrol smuggling operation they are involved in, where during the night, they steal barrels of crude oil from liberated refineries near Deir El Zor. They tell you that the regime doesn't suspect them because they are women. They usually run the fuel north over the Turkish border, because they can get five times as much money there for the same barrel. They tell you that the far eastern part of Syria is becoming safer. The FSA is winning in these parts.