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Bomb attacks in Syrian capital kill 8 people
 [JOURNALSTAR] Suicide bombers targeted security compounds in Damascus and a boom-mobile went kaboom!in a pro-regime district there Sunday, killing at least eight people, the latest in a surge of civil war violence in the capital. In northern Syria, a boom-mobile killed 12 soldiers in Aleppo, according to the Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists in Syria for information. It had no other details, and the government did not comment. In neighboring Leb, meanwhile, fierce festivities erupted between the Lebanese military and supporters of a hard-line Sunni Mohammedan holy man, in the latest spillover from Syria. Six Lebanese soldiers were killed, according to the army, which vowed to hit back with an "iron hand." Heavy fighting ... as opposed to the more usual name-calling or slapsy... with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades in Sidon caused panic in the southern coastal city, which until recently had been largely spared the violence hitting other areas. Many people who were spending the day on the beach hurried home, while others living on high floors came down or fled to safer areas. Gray smoke billowed over parts of the city and residents caught in the fire appealed for help. The fighting broke out in the predominantly Sunni city after supporters of Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir, a virulent critic of the powerful Shiite hard boy Hezbollah group, opened fire on an army checkpoint. The military issued a statement confirming that six soldiers died in the shooting, including three officers. It said the shooting was unprovoked. Syria's state-run news agency ...and if you can't believe the state-run news agency who can you believe?... SANA said three jacket wallahs blew themselves up while trying to break into the Rukneddine cop shoppe in northern Damascus, killing five people and wounding several others. SANA said three would-be suicide bombers also tried to break into the Criminal Security Branch in the southern Bab Mousalla area but were caught by security forces before they could detonate their explosives. Activists confirmed the corpse count. SANA said a boom-mobile went kaboom!in Mazzeh 86 district in the capital, killing three people, including a 3-year-old boy. Residents of the district are mostly Alawites, an offshoot Shiite sect that  Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad Leveler of Latakia... 's family belongs to. The opposition forces fighting against Assad's regime are mostly Sunni Mohammedans. Nobody immediately grabbed credit for the Damascus kabooms, but they bore the hallmarks of al-Qaeda-linked groups that have joined forces with rebels fighting to oust Assad. The attacks in Syria's two largest cities came as government forces pressed an offensive on the outskirts of the capital. SANA carried a statement by the Interior Ministry saying that the Damascus attacks were a "new escalation by terrorist groups," a term used by the government to refer to the rebels. More than 93,000 people have been killed in Syrian conflict that started in March 2011 as peaceful protest against Assad's rule. In the past year, the war has taken on sectarian overtones. The conflict has increasingly spilled across Syria's borders. The festivities in Sidon centered on the Bilal bin Rabbah Mosque, where al-Assir preaches. The holy man is believed to have hundreds of armed supporters in Sidon who fought back Sunday. Dozens of al-Assir's gunnies also partially shut down the main highway linking south Leb with Beirut. By Sunday evening, the army had besieged the mosque, sealing off access to it from all directions, and was going after al-Assir and his supporters, who have been agitating for months. The NNA report said Assir was believed to be hiding inside the mosque with several of his followers. The holy man and his followers support Sunni rebels in the Syria conflict, and he has threatened to clear apartments in Sidon where Hezbollah supporters live. Sunday's festivities in Sidon deepened tensions in Leb. on edge since the Syrian conflict began more than two years ago. Lebanese President Michel Suleiman ...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too... called an emergency meeting of the security cabinet for Monday. NNA also reported sporadic shooting in the volatile city of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... in the north, and the army announced additional force deployments in around Beirut. The violence came a day after an 11-nation group that includes the U.S. met in the Qatari capital of Doha to coordinate military aid and other forms of assistance to the rebels. Syria's al-Thawra newspaper, the mouthpiece of the government, assailed the Friends of Syria meeting. "It's clear that the enemies of Syria are rushing to arm the gunnies to kill the chances for holding the Geneva conference," the newspaper said, referring to a U.S.-Russia initiative for bringing Assad's government and rebels together to negotiate an end to the crisis. The Syrian paper pledged that the army would "continue the showdown to eliminate terrorism and restore security and stability." Posted by: Fred 2013-06-24 |
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