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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Syrian troops storm Damascus suburb |
| 2012-01-27 |
| BEIRUT: Syrian troops stormed a flashpoint suburb of Damascus on Thursday, raiding homes and searching vehicles, while tens of thousands of backers of President Bashar Assad poured into the streets of several cities in a show of support for his embattled regime. Just days after pulling out of the suburb of Douma following intense clashes with anti-regime fighters, government troops pushed back in early Thursday from all directions, meeting no resistance, activists said. “They are entering homes, searching cars and stopping people in the streets to check identity cards,” activist and Douma resident Mohammed Al-Saeed told The Associated Press, saying the soldiers had lists of wanted people. “There is very little movement in the streets and nobody is allowed to leave or enter Douma.” The suburb has become a flashpoint in recent months, with large protests against Assad that security forces crushed by force. Just 10 miles (16 kilometers) away in downtown Damascus, thousands of people waved Syrian flags and shouted support for President Bashar Assad. Similar rallies were held in Aleppo in the north, according to state-run media. Violence, meanwhile, has continued unabated. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a joint army and police force was ambushed Thursday near the town of Khirbet Ghazaleh, killing four members of the security forces and wounding five more. |
| Posted by:Steve White |