Damascus suburb bears brunt as Syria strife worsens
Source: Agencies |
July 3, 2012, Tuesday
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ATTACK helicopters bombarded a suburb of Damascus yesterday and Turkey said it had scrambled warplanes near the border in the north, as a 16-month conflict in Syria entered a more violent phase and diplomacy appeared to have failed.
Fighting has come to the gates of the Syrian capital in recent weeks and is also raging throughout the country as the battle to unseat President Bashar Assad increasingly takes on the character of an all-out civil war, fueled by sectarian hatred.
Syrian government forces have launched an assault on Douma, a city on the edge of Damascus where they stormed a rebel stronghold two days ago leaving the town nearly abandoned.
"The bombardment of Douma continued today using helicopters. Some activists entered the city and they saw at least seven decaying bodies in the streets under the sun. One man had been executed inside his house," said Mohamed Doumany, an activist who fled the city two days ago.
"There is huge destruction in the city, which is almost empty. Only a few of its people remain inside," he said.
Turkey said yesterday it had scrambled six F-16 fighters in response to three separate incidents of Syrian helicopters approaching the border. Turkey also scrambled fighters on Saturday and has moved guns and soldiers toward the frontier.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told Syrian opposition figures gathered in Cairo, Egypt, that their struggle to unseat Assad would end in victory. "The Assad regime's guns, tanks, weapons have no meaning in the face of the will of the Syrian people. Sooner or later the will of the Syrian people shall reign supreme. And you will lead this process."
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, a former ally of Assad who has turned decisively against him, says Turkish military rules of engagement have been changed and any Syrian forces approaching the border and deemed threatening will be targeted.
The Syrian government tightly controls access, making it difficult to verify accounts of fighting on the ground.
Anti-Assad activists said there were heavy clashes in Deir Ezzor Province near the Iraqi border where villages were under army fire. Rebels destroyed two tanks.
In rural areas near Aleppo south of the Turkish border there were clashes following explosions inside the city overnight. Forested areas near the border were on fire, activists said.
Syrian artillery pounded the village of Talbiseh near Homs yesterday, targeting an area near the mosque. Video footage posted on YouTube showed a blast hitting the mosque's slender minaret, engulfing it in a cloud of grey smoke and dust.
Other footage showed high explosive rounds slamming into an unseen target behind the mosque every minute.
Security forces were also shelling towns in the province of Deraa, near the Jordan border, activists said.
Fighting has come to the gates of the Syrian capital in recent weeks and is also raging throughout the country as the battle to unseat President Bashar Assad increasingly takes on the character of an all-out civil war, fueled by sectarian hatred.
Syrian government forces have launched an assault on Douma, a city on the edge of Damascus where they stormed a rebel stronghold two days ago leaving the town nearly abandoned.
"The bombardment of Douma continued today using helicopters. Some activists entered the city and they saw at least seven decaying bodies in the streets under the sun. One man had been executed inside his house," said Mohamed Doumany, an activist who fled the city two days ago.
"There is huge destruction in the city, which is almost empty. Only a few of its people remain inside," he said.
Turkey said yesterday it had scrambled six F-16 fighters in response to three separate incidents of Syrian helicopters approaching the border. Turkey also scrambled fighters on Saturday and has moved guns and soldiers toward the frontier.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told Syrian opposition figures gathered in Cairo, Egypt, that their struggle to unseat Assad would end in victory. "The Assad regime's guns, tanks, weapons have no meaning in the face of the will of the Syrian people. Sooner or later the will of the Syrian people shall reign supreme. And you will lead this process."
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, a former ally of Assad who has turned decisively against him, says Turkish military rules of engagement have been changed and any Syrian forces approaching the border and deemed threatening will be targeted.
The Syrian government tightly controls access, making it difficult to verify accounts of fighting on the ground.
Anti-Assad activists said there were heavy clashes in Deir Ezzor Province near the Iraqi border where villages were under army fire. Rebels destroyed two tanks.
In rural areas near Aleppo south of the Turkish border there were clashes following explosions inside the city overnight. Forested areas near the border were on fire, activists said.
Syrian artillery pounded the village of Talbiseh near Homs yesterday, targeting an area near the mosque. Video footage posted on YouTube showed a blast hitting the mosque's slender minaret, engulfing it in a cloud of grey smoke and dust.
Other footage showed high explosive rounds slamming into an unseen target behind the mosque every minute.
Security forces were also shelling towns in the province of Deraa, near the Jordan border, activists said.
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