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Syria Troop Fire Hurts Two in Lebanon
 Syrian troops maimed two people when they opened fire on the northern border district of Wadi Kahled on Friday, a local official said, as shootouts raged across the frontier.A Lebanese woman was hurt by gunfire that came from a Syrian military post during an hour-long shootout, said Mahmoud Khazaal, former mayor of the Lebanese border town of Muqaybli. A Syrian man, also maimed by the gunfire, was hospitalized in the northern district of Akkar, a medical official said, requesting anonymity. Eyewitnesses told AFP the shootout had erupted shortly after Syrian refugees gathered at the Lebanese side of the Kabir River, which separates the two countries. The Syrian troops began to "shoot randomly" when the crowd amassed to protest a violent crackdown on the Syrian village of Tall Kalakh by forces loyal to embattled  Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad Sonny, disguised as Fredo, trying to be Mike... , according to Khazaal. Witnesses in Wadi Khaled said residents had evacuated a number of border villages. A Britannia-based rights group said separately that Friday's assault on Tall Kalakh had left dozens of people maimed. "Shelling and machinegun fire have targeted Tall Kalakh, which has been surrounded by armored vehicles, since this morning," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The assault, which was launched on Wednesday, was being "conducted jointly by the Syrian army, security services and Shabiha" militias loyal to the regime, it said in a statement received by AFP. Thousands of Syrians have decamped Tall Kalakh and other border areas into Leb in recent months, as Assad's troops fight to repress an eight-month uprising. According to Lebanese officials, Syrian troops have also laced their country's northern and eastern borders with Leb with mines in order to prevent weapons smuggling and stop dissidents from fleeing. Posted by: Fred 2011-12-03 |
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