Syrian Troops Head to 'Massacre' Site amid Calls for Demos
Syrian dissidents warned Tuesday of a harsh backlash as troop reinforcements headed to northwestern Syrian after the authorities said 120 policemen were massacred in the town of Jisr Shughour.
The Syrian Revolution 2011, a Facebook group spurring protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, called for "Tuesday of resurrection" rallies and appealed to the army to protect civilians against regime agents.
"Thirteen military vehicles are heading to Jisr Shughour," where the alleged massacre took place and which has been the focus of military operations since Saturday, an activist in the northwestern town told Agence France Presse by telephone.
He said the convoy had left from Syria's second city of Aleppo and that "helicopters overflew the town all night long."
State television said on Monday the policemen were killed by "armed gangs" who were "committing a real massacre," had "mutilated bodies and thrown others into the Assi river," and burnt public buildings.
It said a total of 120 police were killed, including 80 at the town's security headquarters, without specifying the date of the incidents in Jisr Shughour.
But two activists who spoke by telephone to AFP spoke of a mutiny at a local security headquarters on Monday, where shooting was heard the day before.
"I think they executed policemen who refused to open fire on demonstrators. There was a mutiny in the security service," one said.
The other told AFP that "shooting followed by an explosion was heard in the military HQ, apparently after a mutiny."
A statement on Facebook -- signed "residents of Jisr Shughour" -- also said "the deaths among soldiers and police were the consequence of defections in the army" and denied state media claims of armed gangs in their region.
Syria's al-Watan newspaper said a "security operation" will be launched in and around Jisr Shughour while Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim al-Shaar warned that the authorities would hit back.
"The state will act firmly, with force and in line with the law. It will not stay arms folded in the face of armed attacks on the security of the homeland," Shaar said in a statement read on television.
Foreign journalists are barred from traveling around Syria, making it difficult to report on the unrest and verify government and witness accounts of the violence.
Since Friday, at least 40 people have been killed, including 35 in a security sweep in Jisr Shughour, which was a stronghold of the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1980s and borders Turkey, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
A Turkish diplomat told AFP in Ankara on Tuesday that one person died from gunshot wounds as 41 refugees fleeing unrest in Syria crossed the border into Turkey over the weekend.
Around 20 of them had arrived with injuries and were treated in Turkey, the source said.
Facebook group The Syrian Revolution 2011 called for fresh protests on Tuesday to mark a “day of resurrection" and appealed to the army to protect demonstrators.
"Our revolution is peaceful, we want freedom, dignity and life. We do not endorse any foreign party or organization," the group wrote.
"We do not call to battle and refuse to bear arms against our brothers in the Syrian army. We call on them to protect us and defend us against the shootings by agents" of the regime.
It advised pro-democracy activists in areas facing a crackdown by security forces and "gangs of the regimes" -- especially in the northern Idlib province -- to parry potential assaults by "burning tires" and "blocking roads with stones and wood."
Syria's opposition movement keeps swelling despite the regime's repressive measures which have left more than 1,100 people dead, according to rights groups, and sparked worldwide condemnation and sanctions against key regime figures, including the president.
In Washington meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said France and other western powers are ready to risk a veto by Russia at the U.N. over a draft resolution to condemn political violence in Syria.
The draft was drawn up by France, Britain, Germany and Portugal. It condemns violence at the hands of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and asks him to open Syrian cities to humanitarian teams.
Assad has responded to the opposition movement by lifting emergency laws, creating a commission on political parties and granting a general amnesty, but security forces continue to pound protest hubs.
Rights groups say more than 1,100 civilians have been killed and at least 10,000 arrested in Syria since anti-regime protests erupted in mid-March.
Damascus blames the unrest on "armed terrorist gangs" backed by Islamists and foreign agitators.
Source: Agence France Presse
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