Tears of a Syrian boy soldier: Horror of Kalashnikov-toting child as he sees comrade die

NOVANEWS

• Image shows boy of about ten crying out during fierce battle near Homs
• It emerges as President Bashar al-Assad claims he has the support of his people
• Assad contrasts himself with the late Shah of Iran who was toppled by the Islamic Revolution in 1979
• He also tells a Turkish daily newspaper that Syria is under attack from Islamist militants
• ‘I am still standing thanks to my people … Why should I kill the people who stand by me?’ claims the 46-year-old leader

By ANTHONY BOND
His face a mask of raw shock, a young boy soldier is led away after his friend was killed fighting in Syria.
Wearing jeans, trainers and an Adidas t-shirt, he looks like a primary schoolboy but for a green ammunition vest much too big for his small frame and the AK-47 he clutches in his right hand.
He is one of a rising number of child soldiers – many barely older than ten – recruited by the increasingly desperate rebel Free Syrian Army to fight President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.
In a heart-wrenching video, he catches sight of the body of his friend Ahmad, who had mustered a group to defend the Crusader castle Krak des Chevaliers.

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Worrying: A young Syrian boy holding a Kalashnikov is comforted by a rebel during fighting with government forces on the outskirts of Homs

Tears: The young Syrian boy holds a hand to his face as he cries after witnessing the horror of a comrade being shot dead in battle. He also shouted the dead man’s name

Overcome with grief: The boy steadies himself after the grizzly event, which occurred in a battle between his rebel fighters and government forces on the outskirts of Homs

Rebel fighters carry the dead fighter away after he was shot, one of a possible 15,000 victims of bloody conflict

Moments later, Ahmad was dead, his body carried from the frontline by his brother and comrades – who would die five minutes later.

The boy cries ‘Ahmad’ in his unbroken voice in the video – the first time the reality of children fighting on Syria’s frontline has been so vividly captured.
An older rebel puts a hand on his shoulder as the boy peers around a corner to see Ahmad’s body being carried away.
On the verge of tears, he buries his face in his free hand before being led away – still carrying his gun.
Assad claimed today that he has the support of his people – saying he would otherwise have been toppled from power by now.

In an interview with the Turkish daily Cumhuriyet newspaper Assad contrasted himself with the late Shah of Iran, who was toppled by the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

Violence: Smoke can be seen rising from a neighbourhood in Homs

Wrecked: Damage can be seen in the district of Juret al-Shayah in Homs

Devastation: A burning shop can be seen on a road covered in debris in the al-Khalidya district in Homs

‘He led the most important country in the region, he had a powerful army and was supported by the whole world. So was he able to stand up against the people? No,’ Assad said.
‘If I had been in the same situation, that is if I didn’t have the people behind me, I could not have resisted. I would have been overthrown. How come I’m still standing?’
Syria’s current bloodshed starting in March 2011 following an initially peaceful revolt against the 42 years of Assad family rule.

Despite this, Assad is confident that most of Syria’s 23 million people are on his side in the struggle.
‘Everybody was calculating that I would fall in a small amount of time. They all miscalculated.’

Protests: A group are seen in Sarmada in a demonstration against Assad’s rule earlier this week

Anger: Protesters raise their arms as they demonstrate against the Syrian President in central Damascus

He added: ‘The overwhelming majority of the people think like me on this subject.’

The underfire Syrian leader also told the newspaper, which published an interview with him today, that Syria was under attack from Islamist militants sent by malevolent Arab countries, and was threatened by Western enmity and Turkish hostility.
Assad responded violently to popular demonstrations at the outset of the uprising and has since used tanks, artillery, helicopter gunships, troops and militiamen to try to crush armed rebels and deter Syrians from challenging his power.
But he claimed Syria was under attack from Islamist militants. ‘The big game targeting Syria is much bigger than we expected,’ Assad said. ‘The aim is to break up Syria or trigger a civil war. The fight against terrorism will continue decisively in the face of this. And we will defeat terror.’
Assad’s remarks published today betrayed no hint that he was prepared to consider the kind of political transition proposed by U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan with broad Western and Arab backing.

Bizarre: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad claimed in a speech he has the support of his people otherwise he would have been toppled from power long ago. He also compared himself the late Shah of Iran, pictured right, who was toppled by the Islamic Revolution in 1979

‘No power, however powerful it is, can defeat a genuine revolution of the people,’ he said. ‘But we are now waging war with terrorist groups, not the people. And we will wage war because we have to protect ourselves and our people.’
An international conference in Geneva last weekend endorsed proposals for a political transition in Syria, but Russia denies the plan implies Assad’s departure, as the West insists.
Syrian dissidents and Western leaders say more than 15,000 people have been killed in the conflict, with many more wounded or tortured, while Syrian officials say their forces have lost several thousand dead to ‘terrorist’ insurgents.
Assad ridiculed the notion that Syrians wanted him to go.
‘Look at the situation: America is my enemy, the whole of the West is my enemy, regional countries are my enemy,’ the 46-year-old leader said. ‘I am still standing thanks to my people … Why should I kill the people who stand by me?’
The Turkish daily Cumhuriye has published excerpts from its interview with the Syrian leader over the past three days.

In an article earlier this week, Assad said he regretted the shooting down of a Turkish jet by his forces last month.
The paper quoted Mr Assad as saying: ‘I say 100%, I wish we did not shoot it down.’

Video: Moment a child rebel fighter sees his Syrian comrade shot down in action

PILOTS’ BODIES RETRIEVED FROM JET’S WRECKAGE

Pieces collected from the wreckage of the Turkish F4 war plane which was shot down by Syria over the Mediterranean Sea

Tensions on Syria’s northern border with Turkey have also soared since Syria shot down a Turkish reconnaissance F4 plane over the Mediterranean on June 22 in disputed circumstances.
Turkey said it had retrieved the two pilots’ bodies from the jet’s wreckage on the seabed and had flown them back to their base in Malatya for burial on Friday.

Turkey will join Western and Arab states in Paris on Friday for a third meeting of the anti-Assad ‘Friends of Syria’ forum.
Russia has criticised the grouping as one-sided. China confirmed on Thursday it would not attend the Paris talks, which also involve members of Syria’s fractious opposition.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she regretted the absence of Russia and China. ‘If we have two important powers within the United Nations not attending such a conference, that is not a positive sign,’ she told a news conference.
The Paris gathering could help by tightening sanctions on Syria and further isolating it to ramp up pressure on Assad, a senior Western diplomat in Washington said earlier this week.
The diplomat, who asked not to be identified, said any clear Russian move away from Assad would weaken his position.
‘Whether or not the Russians have told Assad that he is not their best friend, Assad certainly believes the Russians are his best friend and that sustains (him) to a degree.’

Lavrov said the leader of the opposition Syrian National Council would be in Moscow for talks next week, but signalled no change in Russia’s stance.
Assad has made clear he has no intention of stepping down and can count on staunch support from Iran.
‘The Americans think only of their own interests, but it is the right of the nations in the region, including the great nation of Syria, to freely determine their own destiny, and other nations should not impose their own demands,’ Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday.