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Tank, navy attack on Syrias Latakia kills 24
AMMAN: Syrian tanks and navy ships shelled the main Mediterranean port city of Latakia on Sunday, residents and rights groups said, killing 24 people as President Bashar Al-Assads forces launched an offensive by land and sea to crush protests against his rule.Since the beginning of the fasting month of Ramadan on August 1, Assads forces have stormed major urban centers and outlying regions where protests demanding political freedom and an end to 41 years of Assad family rule have been attracting crowds in larger numbers, human rights campaigners said. I can see the silhouettes of two grey vessels. They are firing their guns and the impact is landing on Al-Raml Al-Filistini and Al-Shaab neighborhoods, one witness told Reuters by phone from Latakia, where tanks and armored vehicles were deployed three months ago to crush dissent against Assad in mainly Sunni neighborhoods of the mixed city. This is the most intense attack on Latakia since the uprising. Anyone who sticks his head out of the window risks being shot. They want to finish off the demonstrations for good, he said. Each night, an average of 20,000 people have been rallying daily to demand Assads removal in different areas across the city after Ramadan evening prayers, known as tarawih, the witness said. The Syrian Revolution Coordinating Union said 32 civilians were killed on Sunday. Among them were 24 in Latakia, including a two-year-old girl, Ola Al-Jablawi. The deaths came after security forces shot dead 20 people during nationwide marches on Friday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said most of the casualties were from machineguns targeting heavily populated residential districts. After heavy firing, troops and shabbiha (militiamen loyal to Assad) have reached the main square in Al-Raml Al-Filistini, where the crowds have been demonstrating peacefully for freedom and the downfall of the regime, said a statement by the grassroots activists group. The official state news agency denied that Latakia was hit from the sea and said two police and four unidentified armed men were killed when order preservation forces pursued armed men who were terrorizing residents.. and using machineguns and explosives from rooftops and from behind barricades. Nevertheless, the assaults by Syrian security forces are being met with increasing international condemnation.
Posted by: Steve White 2011-08-15 |
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