62 dead as protesters clash with Syria army
Source: Agencies |
August 1, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
SYRIAN security forces killed at least 62 people yesterday in an escalation of the crackdown on protests ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, activists and residents said. Most died in raids on the flashpoint city of Hama, where a barrage of shelling and gunfire left bodies scattered in the streets.
Demonstrations calling for President Bashar Assad's ouster are expected to swell during Ramadan, which starts today, in Syria. Security forces appeared to be racing against time as they stormed and raided cities and small villages across the country in an attempt to crush a remarkably resilient uprising that began in mid-March.
Having sealed off the main roads into the opposition stronghold of Hama almost a month ago, army troops in tanks pushed into the city from four sides before daybreak yesterday in a coordinated assault. Residents shouted "God is great!" and threw firebombs, stones and sticks at the tanks. The crackle of gunfire and thud of tank shells echoed across the city, and clouds of black smoke drifted over rooftops.
"It's a massacre. They want to break Hama before the month of Ramadan," an eyewitness who identified himself as Ahmed said in Hama, where at least 49 people were killed yesterday.
Hospitals were struggling to cope with casualties and were seeking blood donations, he said.
During Ramadan, Muslims throng to mosques for special night prayers after breaking their daily dawn-to-dusk fast. The gatherings could trigger intense protests throughout the predominantly Sunni country and activists say authorities are moving to ensure that does not happen.
Other raids were reported in southern Syria and in the suburbs of the capital Damascus. In the neighborhood of al-Joura in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour, soldiers in tanks fired machine guns, killing at least seven people, activists said.
In the village of al-Hirak in the southern province of Daraa, residents said security forces killed four people early yesterday after opening fire on residents as people ventured into the streets to buy bread.
A resident, Abu Mohammed, said more than 40 were wounded and 170 detained in house-to-house arrests.
The government said those behind the protests are terrorists and foreign extremists, not true reform-seekers.
State-run news agency SANA yesterday said gunmen in Hama and Deir el-Zour had erected barricades and sand barriers in the streets, and that extremists in Hama torched police stations, destroyed public and private property and fired from rooftops.
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