Syrian troops attack village in north-west, activists say

[alp227]

Source: The Guardian

Syrian troops have assaulted the village of Sarjeh in the north-west province of Idleb, activists said. The attack was the latest military operation in the area as President Bashar al-Assad tries to quash dissent a week before Ramadan, when protests are expected to intensify.

Forces backed by tanks entered the village, electricity and water supplies were cut off and arrests made, the local co-ordinating committees reported. Activists also reported reinforcements entering Homs, the flashpoint city north of Damascus that was the focus of an increased crackdown last week, and a campaign of detentions in Damascus.

Arrests in Damascus focused on the Rukn ad-Deen and Qaboun neighbourhoods, activists said, where protests have increased over the past fortnight.

Protests have disrupted satellite villages around the capital since the beginning of the uprising, now in its fifth month, but have been creeping closer to the centre in recent weeks.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/24/syrian-troops-attack-village-activists

[dana_b]

1. what a brutal regime

over 1500 civilians have been killed?! Damn... I know that Ramadan is coming but I hope that they can keep it up.

[pampango]

2. Aljazeera: Assad sacks governor following huge protests

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/07/201172543653293308.html

Move seen as bid to tighten government's grip in Deir az-Zor, after half a million people took to streets on Friday.

Bashar al-Assad, Syria's president, has sacked the governor of the flashpoint province of Deir az-Zor, two days after massive protests demanding his ousting were held in the oil-producing region. Samir Othman al-Sheikh, an officer in the intelligence apparatus, was asked to replace Hussein Arnos on Sunday, while the Syrian army continued its crackdown in several towns. The move is being seen as an attempt to tighten the government's grip on Deir az-Zor.

About half a million people took to the streets across Deir az-Zor on Friday, in one of the biggest demonstrations in recent weeks, activists and human rights campaigners said. Deir az-Zor, which produces most of Syria's oil, is among the poorest of the country's 13 provinces, and a water crisis in the past six years has crippled agricultural production.

Last week, the army surrounded the town of Albu Kamal near Deir az-Zor, which borders Iraq's Sunni heartland, after 30 soldiers defected following the killing of four protesters in the town, residents said.

According to the Syrian Observatory, 1,483 civilians are now confirmed dead in the government crackdown on dissent since mid-March. The violence has also claimed the lives of 365 troops and security forces, the government says. In that time, at least 12,000 people have been arrested and thousands have fled to neighbouring Turkey and Lebanon, rights groups say.

[UndertheOcean]

3. k&R n/t