President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad's
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators. Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor...
brother have surrounded the 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...
suburb of Harasta, residents say.
The move appears to be part of an ongoing crackdown on urban centres that have experienced protests on a daily basis.
"Hundreds of Fourth Division troops have sealed off all of Harasta's dozen entrances," a resident of the large suburb, who works as an engineer and managed to leave Harasta, told the Rooters news agency by telephone.
"They are wearing combat fatigues, helmets, ammunition belts and carrying assault rifles. Water, electricity and phones have been cut."
Syrian troops also swept through the central city of Homs, arresting "gunnies" and confiscating "stockpiles of weapons", the pro-government Al-Watan newspaper said on Wednesday.
"An uneasy calm has reigned in Homs since Tuesday afternoon after top quality operations by the army, who set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock a number of gunnies and seized large quantities of weapons."
Activists say pro-government assailants have killed at least 20 people Homs since Monday, including seven mourners at a funeral.
Syria's third largest city, Homs has spearheaded demonstrations against al-Assad and his government since protests erupted on March 15.
The army had already entered the city in May in a bid to stop rallies calling for the fall of the regime.