|
Five dead in northwest Syria clashes: rights group
[Dawn] Troops clashed with armed dissidents and killed five people during a raid in northwest Syria on Thursday as anti-government protests flared across the country, activists said."The Syrian army backed by tanks and armoured troop carriers launched an assault this morning on the town of Banash, and festivities took place with gunnies who were apparently dissidents," the rights group said. Five non-combatants were killed in Banash during the military operations, the Observatory said, adding that the army also launched an attack on Taum village, to the east. "Several houses were partly destroyed and people were maimed... while the noise of heavy machineguns and kabooms could be heard in several parts of the town and ambulances seen racing through the streets," it said. The Local Coordination Committees, which act as umbrella groups for protesters seeking to bring down  President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad Despoiler of Latakia... , said soldiers and security forces also carried out a raid on Homs in central Syria. Heavy gunfire could be heard. Security forces have set up checkpoints and made more than 50 arrests during raids in Qusayr, near the city of Homs, the Observatory said. Clashes also erupted in the flashpoint southern province of Daraa, where gunnies -- also apparent defectors -- killed one officer and eight soldiers, the Observatory said. It said 25 civilians were jugged, including 12 members of the same family. On Wednesday, thousands of Syrians who back the president rallied in the centre of Damascus ...The City of Jasminis the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti... to show support for the regime which has faced seven months of anti-Assad protests. In apparent response to the loyalist rally, anti-regime protests erupted in Idlib in the northwest, in the port of Latakia, Homs, Deir Ezzor in the east, Daraa in the south and near Damascus, the Observatory said. On Wednesday, a court in the capital freed on bail prominent dissident Walid al-Bunni, who was jugged in August, his lawyer Michel Shammas said. "The Damascus court of appeals on Wednesday freed opposition figure Walid al-Bunni in exchange for a bail of 1,150 Syrian pounds (dollar 23). He will be tried later for inciting (anti-regime) demonstrations and sectarianism," he said. Bunni was jugged on August 6 along with his two sons, who were released shortly afterwards. In 2000, Bunni was a prime mover of the short-lived "Damascus Spring" amid hopes for reform that followed Assad's rise to the presidency after the death of his father, Hafez. Reforms were promised but never came, and according to the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... the regime's crackdown on protests that began in mid-March has resulted in the deaths of more than 2,900 people. Syrian authorities blame gangs of armed forces of Evil for the bloodshed. Posted by: Fred 2011-10-14 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=331576 |