single-party government. Abdel Rahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory For Human Rights said on 31 July that Syrian security forces launched an offensive at 5:00 am (0200 GMT) on Muadhamiya, to the north, then encircled Hama shortly afterwards. In a separate incident on the same day, political prisoners attempted to mutiny in Hama's central prison, to which security forces responded with live ammunition. The death toll in the prison is unknown. The state news agency reported that eight policemen were killed in clashes in Hama. The government has blamed much of the violence on terrorists and militants, who it says have killed hundreds of security personnel. At least 136 fatalities were confirmed, with over 100 in Hama and 19 in Deir ez-Zor, in addition to hundreds of injuries. The crackdown was the most intense of the Syrian civil war thus far, with over 2,200 protesters dead. One Hama resident, a doctor who did not want to be identified for fear of arrest, told Reuters that tanks were attacking Hama from four different directions and "firing randomly". Another resident said snipers had climbed onto the roofs of the state-owned electricity company and the main prison, and that electricity had been cut in eastern neighbourhoods. Syrian government tanks also fired on mosques where the loudspeakers broadcast, "Allahu Akbar". The Security Council met on the night of 31 July to debate the situation in Syria. Syrian dissidents claimed that the tank assault on Hama on 31 July, in which 84 people had died, was an attempt to pacify and regain control of the city ahead of Ramadan and to avert protests during the holy month. August 2011 Syrian security forces continued to bombard Hama on 1 August. The British Daily Telegraph reported that "many of Hama's residents . . . braved the obvious danger to head to mosques for dawn prayers. As they emerged onto the streets, the shelling resumed. Three worshipers were struck down and killed, while a fourth was shot dead by a sniper as he got into his car, opposition activists said. . . . Tank shells struck residential buildings in the suburbs of al-Qousour and Al-Hamidiya." According to one resident, "The tanks are firing at random. They don't care who they hit. The aim seems to be to kill and terrify as many people as possible."' "The number of those wounded is huge and hospitals cannot cope, particularly because