Reply #7: Gunfire, explosions heard in besieged Syrian city [View All]

[Turborama]

(AP) – 3 hours ago

BEIRUT (AP) — Gunfire and sporadic explosions were heard in a tense southern city Wednesday after the Syrian army sent in more tanks and reinforcements as part of a widening crackdown on the uprising against President Bashar Assad's authoritarian regime.

In addition to the unrest in Daraa — the city where the uprising began more than five weeks ago — security forces were conducting sweeping arrests and raids elsewhere in the country, witnesses said.

The crackdown came as opposition figures said their "massive grassroots revolution" will break the regime unless Assad leads a transition to democracy.

The statement from an umbrella group of opposition activists in Syria and abroad called the National Initiative for Change said a democratic transition will "safeguard the nation from falling into a period of violence, chaos and civil war."

Full article that's well worth reading: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5glA_xx31_ghgFQ4UWt9cP2U-3QlA?docId=e028e40be66545cb86897ace9e37e62b