Thirty killed in fresh Syrian violence
Jan 18, 2012 | Pratirodh BureauActivists reported that 30 people, including three soldiers, were killed in separate attacks by armed men loyal to the president Bashar Assad on Tuesday.
The Syrian based activists group Local Coordination Committees said president\\\’s security forces attacked several neighborhoods in the restive city of Homs in central Syria, killing at least 19 people. The city, near the Lebanese border, is the most embattled in Syria.
While, in the northern province of Idlib, near the Turkish border, a roadside bomb struck a minibus killing at least eight passengers. The bomb was planted by the pro-government soldiers, the group added.
The Local Committees also said the bodies of three soldiers who had defected from the army were discovered in a cemetery of the town of Ariha in Idlib province.
A video posted on YouTube showed the three soldiers wearing civilian clothes, as they lay motionless on the ground. One of them had his legs and arms tied. The group said the soldiers had been hiding in the cemetery.
However, it is impossible to verify the death toll as Syria has banned most foreign corespondents and restricted local coverage, making it impossible to get independent confirmation of the events on the ground.
Earlier on Tuesday, Syria rejected a Qatari proposal to send Arab troops to the country to stop the unrest, saying such a move would worsen the situation and open the door to foreign interference.
The developments came a day after the rebel Free Syrian Army called on the UN to invoke Chapter 7 from its charter to take military action against Syria to end the killing of civilians. Chapter 7 allows U.N. forces to initiate force under certain conditions, not simply to act in self-defense.
France, Britain and the U.S. are pushing for strong condemnation of Syria. US President Barack Obama said he was looking to increase international pressure on Syrian leader Bashar Assad to step aside.
The U.N. says more than 5,400 people have been killed since the anti-government uprising began 10 months ago, one of a string of revolts in the Arab world again long-ruling authoritarian regimes. The regime says 2,000 members of the security forces have been killed.