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Syria on the boil
Syrian Forces Kill 20 in Homs – Khaled Yacoub Oweis
Syrian forces backed by tanks killed at least 20 civilians in the city of Homs on Wednesday in one of the fiercest military assaults on urban centers to crush six months of pro-democracy protests, activists and residents said. “Military helicopters are flying overhead and snipers are shooting from rooftops at anything. Tank machinegun fire is coming at us like rain,” a resident of the Bab Sbaaa district said. (Reuters-Los Angeles Times)
See also Assad Declares State of War in Syria, Mobilizes Troops
Syrian President Bashar Assad declared a state of war on Wednesday and issued a general mobilization of troops, Al-Quds newspaper reported Thursday. A “major military operation” required full mobilization of military forces in Syria for concentrated offensives on cities across the country in order to eliminate “terrorists,” the report said. (Jerusalem Post)
On Thursday, President Ahmadinejad of Iran called for President Assad to end his violent crackdown of an uprising challenging his authoritarian rule in Syria. As Assad’s forces continue to shoot unarmed demonstrators, Iran sees its fortunes fading on two fronts: its image as a guardian of Arab resistance has been battered, and its most important regional strategic ally is in danger of being ousted.
Syrian protesters take it as a matter of faith that security forces from both Iran and Hizbullah have been drawn into the fray, trading cellphone videos that are said to show Hizbullah fighters streaming across the border in black SUVs. Analysts are convinced that behind the scenes the Iranians are pushing for a tough line, suggesting that their repression of the 2009 democracy protests in Iran is the model to follow. (New York Times)
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