Saturday, July 30, 2011

Five killed as Syrian troops storm two towns



By Bassem Mroue
The Independent

Saturday, 30 July 2011

"Syrian troops stormed a suburb of the capital Damascus and a town near the Iraqi border, killing at least five people in the latest raids as the government intensifies its crackdown on protesters ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, activists said today.

Activists expect anti-government demonstrations to escalate during Ramadan, which begins early next week. The raids by security forces appear to be an attempt by President Bashar Assad's regime to prevent wide-scale demonstrations when Muslims being the month of fasting from dawn to dusk.

Authorities have waged a brutal crackdown that activists say has killed more than 1,600 civilians since the protests against the Assad family's 40-year-old rule began in mid-March.....

Tens of thousands of protesters calling for the ouster of Assad's regime took to the streets throughout Syria yesterday, urging fellow citizens who have remained on the sidelines to join them.

The observatory said Saturday that 1,888 people have been killed since the uprising began, including 1,519 civilians. It said the rest were members of the military and security forces.

The observatory is known to be more conservative about the numbers of people killed. Other groups such as Qurabi's NOHRS and the LCC put the death toll among civilian well above 1,600......"

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