Syrian forces killed in anti-terrorism raid
Source: tvnz
Syria said today that seven of its soldiers and police were
killed in an operation against terrorists in the central town of
Rastan, where armed resistance has emerged after months of mostly
peaceful protests against President Bashar al-Assad.
The state news agency reported the deaths in the first official
comment on a three-day government offensive to recapture the area
from army defectors.
"The units responsible have inflicted big losses on the armed
terrorist groups," the agency said, quoting a military spokesman.
"The confrontation resulted in the killing of seven personnel,
among them two officers, and the injuring of 32, including seven
officers, from the army and security police."
Syria's army and security forces have remained mostly loyal to
Assad during the six months of protests demanding his overthrow in
which the United Nations says 2,700 people have been killed.
But army deserters, many of whom defected because they refused
to shoot at demonstrators, have formed rebel units mostly in
farming areas around Rastan, a town of 40,000 people which lies 180
km, north of Damascus.
One army defector operating in the province of Idlib, northwest
of Rastan, said the defectors in the town were using guerrilla
tactics against the heavily-armed loyalist forces.
"Rastan has been churning out army officers for decades and
there is a lot of experience among the defecting soldiers. Assad is
mistaken if he thinks that he can wrap up the attack quickly," he
said,
adding that agricultural terrain made it difficult for the regular army to seal off the area.
adding that agricultural terrain made it difficult for the regular army to seal off the area.
The Rastan area is a recruiting ground for Sunni conscripts who
provide most of manpower in the military, which is dominated by
officers from Assad's minority Alawite sect.
Residents say that at least 1,000 deserters and armed villagers
have been fighting the loyalist forces which are backed up by tanks
and helicopters.
Syria says more than 700 soldiers and police have been killed in
the uprising which it blames on armed groups backed by foreign
powers.
In Rastan, troops and security police "were continuing to chase
members of these terrorist groups to restore security and stability
to Rastan and its citizens", the news agency said.
Stones and tomatoes
On Thursday, Assad supporters threw stones and tomatoes at US
ambassador Robert Ford's convoy as he visited an opposition figure
in Damascus.
Ford and his party were uninjured, the US State Department said,
but several embassy vehicles were damaged and the ambassador had to
lock himself in an office to await help from Syrian security.
Syria, which has been irked by Ford's meetings with opposition
figures, accused Washington of inciting violence and meddling in
its affairs. Washington demanded that Syria take steps to protect
US diplomats.
"We condemn this unwarranted attack in the strongest possible
terms. Ambassador Ford and his aides were conducting normal embassy
business and this attempt to intimidate our diplomats through
violence is wholly unjustified," US Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton said.
"We immediately raised this incident with the Syrian government
and we are demanding that they take every possible step to protect
our diplomats according to their obligations under international
law."
The Syrian government said that once it had been alerted to the
confrontation, authorities "took all necessary procedures to
protect the ambassador and his team and secure their return to
their place of work".
Assad's crackdown on the pro-democracy protests has poisoned
relations with the United States, which has imposed fresh sanctions
and rallied world pressure on Syria.
One-man rule
The UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams said the
era of one-man rule in Arab countries was drawing to a close, and
the change sweeping the region would soon take hold in Syria.
"Syria is in the midst of a profound crisis. I do believe
strongly that there will be substantial change," Williams told
Reuters. "When that will take place it is very difficult to
ascertain but I don't think we are talking about years."
At the United Nations, European members of the Security Council
softened a draft resolution condemning Syria's crackdown but Russia
said it could not support the new text.
The latest version of the resolution showed that drafters
Britain, France, Germany and Portugal had deleted a reference to UN
human rights chief Navi Pillay's recommendation that the council
consider referring the Syrian government's crackdown to the
International Criminal Court in The Hague.
The United States is expected to support it, envoys said,
despite its disappointment about compromises made in an attempt to
woo Russia, China, Brazil, India and South Africa.
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