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25 Reported Dead In Syria As Tanks Sent To Crush Uprising

April 25, 2011

Syria has sent troops and tanks into the southern city of Deraa to crush a month-long popular uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, reportedly killing some 25 people.

It was thought to be the first time authorities have used tanks to quell what has so far been a month of peaceful protests. Independent confirmation of the reports was impossible because most foreign journalists have been expelled from the country.

Rights groups say more than 350 Syrians have been killed since street demonstrations began on March 18, with a third of those coming in the past few days after security forces opened fire on protesters and mourners.

In the latest violence, a witness told Reuters that he saw bodies lying in a main street near the Omari mosque in Deraa. He said eight tanks and two armored vehicles had deployed in the old quarter of the city, snipers were posted on government buildings, and security forces in army fatigues were shooting randomly at people's houses.

Al-Jazeera quoted a Deraa resident named Mohsen who said tanks at the city's entrance points were shelling targets inside the city.

Amateur video posted on a social media website showed people throwing rocks at slow moving tanks, scenes of destruction near the mosque, security forces and tanks in firing positions, and the sound of artillery fire.

Al Arabiya television quoted an eyewitness saying that there were "20 martyrs" in the city and that five officers and 10 soldiers had refused orders to shoot citizens.

Another witness told Al-Jazeera that he saw a unit commander and his troops protecting civilians while the wounded were dragged off the street.

Syria also closed all its border crossings along its southern border with Jordan. A Syrian woman who lives in Jordan but has family in Deraa told Reuters that 'bodies are on the ground' in that city.

"They are telling me that tanks are surrounding Deraa, in the streets of Deraa. They are bombing Deraa. Snipers are everywhere," she said. "Whoever looks from window is shot. They raid houses to arrest injured people. They are doing everything. They are doing everything illegal."

Syrian state television quoted an army official as saying that troops had entered Deraa at the request of citizens to hunt "extremist terrorist groups."

The show of brute force by the authorities comes on the heels of the historic April 21 decision by al-Assad to lift the country's 48-year state of emergency.

Within 24 hours of that announcement, however, security forces had killed some 100 people across the country who had continued to call for reform.

New amateur video posted to a social media website showed protesters at a funeral in Deraa chanting, "God is greatest!" and "With blood, we defend you martyr!"

In Washington, a White House spokesman repeated a statement President Barack Obama issued following the April 22 violence, which "condemn(ed) in the strongest possible terms the use of force by the Syrian government against demonstrators" and called the violence "outrageous."

Obama's statement also called al-Assad's decision to lift the emergency law "not serious, given the continued violent repression against protesters."

Spokesman Jay Carney said the Obama administration has been pressing al-Assad for weeks to live up to his promises to enact reforms. Asked if the Syrian people had "lost faith" in their leader, he said this:

"As it is for all of these countries, it is up to the people of Syria to decide who [their] leader should be, that's what we believe. And the Syrian people should certainly be respected, their rights should be respected, they should not be attacked, they should not be killed as they express their grievances to the Syrian government," he said.

Carney also said the U.S. government is considering imposing additional sanctions on Syrian officials. As a State Department-designated 'state sponsor of terrorism," Syria is already subject to several penalties.

"We're pursuing a variety of options, or looking at, rather, a range of options, including targeted sanctions," he said. "What we have seen is that sanctions can put pressure on governments and regimes to change their behavior, and I think that would obviously be the goal of this."

The AP, quoting administration officials, said new asset and travel bans are already being written and will target al-Assad and his inner circle.

with agency reports

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/syria_sends_tanks_to_crush_protesters/9505150.html

Copyright (c) 2011. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.