anti-smuggling patrol. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said more than 5,000 Palestinians had been forced to flee from a refugee camp on the outskirts of Latakia during the assault, and the LCC reported soldiers were moving from residence to residence in the camp and ordering the Palestinians to leave. The LCC also said random gunfire erupted in the area. At least one resident reported the district containing the Palestinian camp was shelled, among others, and that heavy machine-gun fire was being directed at over half a dozen other neighborhoods in the city. Avaaz, the international human rights group, said it could name nine confirmed killed on 16 August in Latakia. Residents reported that many people were being detained as they attempted to flee the city. They also said shabiha, plainclothes militiamen, were looting homes and shops in the al-Ramel neighbourhood, where the Palestinian refugee camp is located, as well as attempting to remove any sign of shooting. One resident said he was afraid the neighbourhood would be completely destroyed. A Los Angeles Times source, claiming to be a doctor in Latakia reported on 18 August that the claims of opposition activists, including the use of warships to attack the city and the detention of hundreds of civilians in a sports stadium, were true. He claimed more than 50 people had died since 14 August in Latakia. Sunni and Palestinian residents of the city were targeted disproportionately, according to his account, and homes were being destroyed by shelling, gunfire, and bulldozers to flush people out into the open where many were rounded up and arrested. On 10 January 2012, video footage appeared to show a small crowd of pro-Government demonstrators in Latakia surrounding and climbing onto the white vehicles used by Arab League monitors, injuring 11 observers. See also References Conflicts in 2011 2011 in Syria Sieges of the Syrian civil war Latakia Military operations of the Syrian civil war involving the Syrian government August 2011 events in Syria Battles in 2011