Syria Sends Tanks to Daraa Killing Several in Protest Crackdown
April 25, 2011, 10:19 AM EDTBy Donna Abu-Nasr
(See EXTRA for more on Middle East unrest.)
April 25 (Bloomberg) -- Syrian security forces stormed the city of Daraa in the south, the site of the most sustained protests against President Bashar al-Assad, killing several people.
Tanks entered Daraa at dawn from four fronts, Abdullah, one of the witnesses, said in an interview by satellite phone punctuated by the sound of gunfire. Abdullah, who would only provide his first name because of concerns for his safety, said he saw 20 bodies strewn across the streets of the town. Three that he helped pull from one street belonged to the al-Shafran family, according to their identity cards, he said.
Mohsen, another witness, said in an interview from Daraa that the tanks opened fire against people gathered in groups and at least five were killed. Ammar Qurabi, head of Syria’s National Organization for Human Rights, put today’s death toll at 10. Al Arabiya television, citing an unidentified activist, said 25 people died.
Syria has intensified a violent crackdown on protesters in the past week, leaving more than 100 dead. Assad’s decision to end an emergency rule in place for half a century, and his pledges of future political and economic measures, have failed to halt the spread of demonstrations against his regime echoing those that toppled rulers in Egypt and Tunisia this year.
Syria is an ally of Iran and a power broker in neighboring Lebanon, where it supports Hezbollah, an armed Shiite Muslim group. Assad and other officials say foreign-backed conspirators are seeking to exploit the expression of legitimate popular demands as a pretext for violence.
‘State in Danger’
Syria closed its border with Jordan, the Jordanian state- run news agency Petra reported, citing State Minister for Media Affairs Taher al-Adwan. The official Syrian news agency, Sana, said all borders including the one with Jordan are open.
The storming of Daraa was a bid by the government to stamp out an “armed insurrection” by groups using advanced weapons against security forces, said Imad Fawzi Shueibi, who heads the Data and Strategic Studies Center, in a telephone interview from Damascus today.
“The issue at this moment is to suppress the insurrection,” after the use of violence by protesters “superseded models for civil demands,” he said. “The state is in a dangerous situation.”
Security forces set up six checkpoints in Douma, a suburb of Damascus, activist Qurabi said by phone from Cairo.
“Daraa and Douma are isolated,” he said. “Telephone lines and power have been cut and they are surrounded by tanks.”
U.S. Considers Sanctions
Mahmoud Merhi, who heads the Arab Organization for Human Rights, said in an interview today that nine people were killed in the coastal town of Jableh yesterday after security forces opened fire to prevent movement on the streets. That brings the number of people killed nationwide in the past four days to 135, while as many as 300 people have been detained, he said.
Violence in Syria has led the U.S. to consider measures including sanctions against officials from Assad’s regime who have led the crackdown, an administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. President Barack Obama on April 23 condemned the “outrageous use of violence.”
Abdullah, the witness in Daraa, also said telephones and power in the region have been cut and government forces opened fire as a scare tactic to prevent demonstrations. As he spoke, the sound of gunfire followed by a shell landing nearby could be heard. Abdullah said he had to hang up because he wanted to take shelter.
‘No Return’
Faisal al-Haymad, deputy president of the Daraa chamber of commerce, told al-Jazeera yesterday he is resigning to protest the repression and has now joined the opposition.
Sheikh Ahmad al-Sayasneh, the imam of the Omari mosque in Daraa and a member of a delegation that held talks with Assad after the first wave of violence last month, said yesterday that he has joined the protesters. In an interview with al-Jazeera, the imam said he is in hiding as security forces were looking for him because he had denounced them as “killers.”
“We have reached a point of no return with them after they killed our sons,” he said. “There is no room for discussions anymore.”
--Editors: Andrew J. Barden, Patrick Harrington, Ben Holland, Claudia Maedler.
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To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net
