Syria: Nearly 2,000 civilians return to Palmyra after Russian demining
A Russian sapper working on the demining of Palmyra, with the town’s medieval Citadel in the background.
The Syrian government has transported as many as 2,000 civilians to Palmyra (Tadmur) on Saturday after the Russian military successfully demined the ancient city this past week. According to the Syrian Information Ministry, some 31 families that comprise of almost 2,000 people have already arrived and begun the process of moving back into their homes after fleeing the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) 11 months ago. More civilians are expected to arrive to Palmyra in the coming weeks as the government continues to encourage these residents to return to their homes.
Syrian civilians returning to Palmyra today.
The Russian military have given access to journalists from 11 countries to the liberated Syrian city of Palmyra. Moscow noted the absence of American journalists in the group.
The group of 27 media professionals from Germany, Italy, Belgium, China, Serbia and other nations were transported from the Russian military base in Khmeimim to Palmyra on Thursday.
They were carried halfway across the country by Mil Mi-8 AMTSh military transport helicopters guarded by Mil Mi-35 helicopter gunships.
The journalists were taken to the historic part of the city, which was badly damaged by the Islamic State while they controlled the city. They also had a chance to speak to local residents and Russian military engineers, who are taking part in demining the city.
Absent from the group were journalists from the US, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov noted. He said that four US-based media outlets cancelled their accreditation requests on the eve of the trip, “as if they were following an order.”[…]
Foreign reporters in Palmyra. Photo Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation / Facebook
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It is indeed very suspicious that American news networks and media outlets all canceled the night before. I think the managers/editors of ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox, etc are to a large degree controlled by the CIA/US government intelligence agencies as to what they can report on, and what is not allowed. Evidently this good news for Syria has been deemed unallowable for Americans watching American network news. Another more flagrant example: during the Iraq war only ’embedded’ news reporters were allowed on the front lines. NO independent journalist allowed! I think it’s something like this with Syria and Palmyra: if a major commercial news network like MSNBC sends reporters to Palmyra and reports on the success of this Russian operation, the spooks and feds in the US government take umbrage to that: “Are you guys American or are you traitors?”. If you report on the successes of Syria or Russia, you are seen as siding with the enemy, unpatriotic, etc. So much for freedom of the press in the USA, it is long gone. The hypocrisy is nauseating. I think the US government military/intelligence agencies put a HUGE amount of effort into clandestine information control and muzzling the corporate media so that only a little reality bubble of ideas or perspectives are allowed on air. The information war is actually more important than the actual war. To manufacture consent (coined by Noam Chomsky, movie of same name) of the masses is the aim. I think when the Pentagon lost the Viet Nam war due to unbiased, actual reporting they then decided to put an end to actual authentic journalism and enforce censorship with an iron fist, GW Bush style.
Reblogged this on Eurasia News Online.
31 families that comprise of 2000 people? That averages about 64 people per family? These are large families. Given the horrors most families have endured with lost ones, am I missing something?
Maybe there was a translation mistake from Arabic to Russian then to English? Maybe they meant extended family including relatives and not nuclear family.
The very censorship the US accuses Russia of it practises itself.
it was a few months ago that I learned via a youtube lecture by Naomi Wolfe that Congress re-enacted the Smith Mundt Act, a WW2 vintage pro-propaganda legislation, in which the US govt enabled major US media to disperse and repeat key propaganda themes in Lieu of actual REPORTING. So in 2012 the US Congress in its infinite wisdom resurrected that Orwellian scheme as HR 5736… see this vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcxH5iydxDs OR here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrYdpQAZP7U where Wolf’s lectured was recorded. watch read and share…