Regime snipers use ‘death towers’ in Al-Waer

NOWHERE TO HIDE: When the Gardenia Towers hotel in Homs city began to be built in 2009, residents looked forward to the modern architectural feel that the two towers—the taller of which has 23 stories—would lend to the area.

Yet as regime snipers began using the towers in mid-2011 to pick off civilians involved in protests across Homs, and later rebel combatants, the buildings took on a new nickname: the “Death Towers.”

The Death Towers—situated between al-Waer and and al-Ghouta districts—look out over most neighborhoods in Homs city, where the majority of buildings are composed of four stories or less. Regime soldiers stationed in the towers have used heavy 12.5mm sniper rifles and 23mm machine guns to reach far-off targets across Homs.

Al-Waer today is the only remaining rebel-held district in the city.

-November 24, 2014

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