The defiant statement signaled the country's violence is worsening as
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor...
tries to quash the most serious threat to his family's 40-year dynasty, under ever increasing international pressure.
Damascus
...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world...
faced the possibility of sweeping economic sanctions from the Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
after missing a deadline Friday to allow hundreds of observers into the country.
Assad is facing the most severe isolation his country has seen in decades because of the violence, which appears to be spiraling out of control. A largely peaceful uprising against Assad began in March, but it has become more violent as defectors from the army turn their guns on security forces and some protesters take up arms to protect themselves.
The escalating bloodshed has raised fears of civil war. The U.N. estimates the military crackdown on the revolt already has killed at least 3,500 people.
According to Friday's military statement, six elite pilots and four technical officers were killed in an ambush a day earlier in Homs, in an unusually high-level strike.
"Our armed forces (will) continue to carry out our mission to defend the country's security, and we will hit back against anything that threatens us," the statement said.
It is not clear who was behind the attacks. It's impossible to independently verify events on the ground because Syria has banned foreign journalists and prevented local news hounds from moving freely.