we lack the adequate equipment," said Hama hospital worker, Dr Abdel Rahman. "It seems strange that the international community seems to care less about the people of Hama than the people of Benghazi," said Omar, a rebel activist in Damascus. The death toll in Hama and Homs was reportedly 'slightly enlarged' according to the local governorate's sources. Government tanks also moved in on the eastern town of Albu Kamal. In the nearby city of Deir al-Zour, had witnessed upwards to 29 over that weekend. Activists and witnesses said at least 24 civilians were killed in attacks on several cities, including Hama, on 1 August. Later that day, The European Union imposed travel bans on five more military and government officials and extended sanctions against Assad's government, including Syrian Defence Minister Ali Habib Mahmud. The UN's security council met to discuss the situation in Syria on 2 August. The US, UK and France wanted to formally condemn Syria, but Russia and China were afraid that "it could be used as a pretext for military intervention in Syria". On 2 August, Syrian dissident Radwan Ziadeh asked US President Barack Obama and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to demand President Bashar al-Assad to step down. By the morning of 3 August 2011, the city was under nearly continuous gunfire since the early hours of the morning and by midday Syrian army tanks stormed through rebel’s barricades in city of Hama, occupying a central square. A post on the Syrian Revolution Facebook page read "The army is now stationed in Assi Square," and "The heroic youths of Hama are confronting them and banning them from entering neighborhoods." The water, electricity and all communications in Hama and its surrounding villages and towns had been cut off, according to nearby online posts on social networking sites. The accounts could not be independently confirmed because the Syrian government banned foreign journalists from entering the country to report. Shaam, an online video channel that is aligned to the protest movement, posted a video dated 3 August that showed at least one tank attacking a neighbourhood that the narrator said was Hayy al-Hader in Hama; heavy plumes of smoke could be seen rising in the sky. On 3 August, following the attacks, workers in Hama declared three days of general strike in memory of those killed by security forces. The town’s pro-democracy movement, the Local Coordination Committee, had