24 Dead in Syria as Dissident Troops Kill General in Hama
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Syrian security forces on Thursday killed at least 24 people across the country, including four leading pro-democracy activists, as dissident soldiers killed a general in the flashpoint central city of Hama, activists and a rights group said.
“The number of martyrs has risen to 24,” the Local Coordination Committees, the main activist network spurring protests on the ground, said on its Facebook page.
The LCC also said that dissident soldiers killed a general after refusing his order to fire on civilians in Hama, a hotbed of opposition against President Bashar al-Assad.
"A military intelligence general, Adel Mustafa, was killed by soldiers who refused to fire against civilians in the Bab Qebli neighborhood," said the LCC.
Likewise, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based watchdog, reported the death of a general in Hama, noting that a lieutenant was also killed in the central city. It said he was killed by deserters.
Meanwhile, in the northern city of Aleppo, demonstrations disintegrated into clashes pitting students against pro-regime militias -- locally known as shabiha -- in the university's science faculty.
Earlier on Thursday, security forces killed four leading pro-democracy activists in an ambush in northwestern Idlib province, the Observatory said.
The activists, who had gone into hiding with armed opponents of the Damascus government, were shot dead in the Zawiya hills close to the border with Turkey, the Britain-based watchdog said, without immediately releasing their names.
Elsewhere, one civilian was killed and seven others wounded during shelling of Bab Houd, a neighborhood of the flashpoint central city of Homs, said the Observatory.
In the eastern protest hub of Deir al-Zour, the body of a young man arrested after being shot during an anti-regime protest was found.
Government troops shot and wounded a soldier who tried to defect at a security checkpoint in Dael, in the restive southern province of Daraa, said the watchdog.
The U.N. says more than 5,400 people have been killed since March.
The Assad regime has waged a fierce crackdown on dissent since protests erupted in mid-March, dispatching troops and militias to protest hotbeds in a bid to silence the opposition.
19 January 2012, 18:24
103
Four insurgent leaders were taken out by government forces in a successful operation, the international community announced today.
19 January 2012, 19:37
23
what is clear, the stalement is king... govmt bashari forces cannot crush the revolt.. and the insurgents cannot crush bashar so,it will be a dark long winter.i remember shiah/ein el remmaneh initiated by bashar's father hafiz, it is coming around.......
19 January 2012, 19:52
39
chris, the 4 were activists are heroes fighting for a cause, the general represents the scum of the earth with blood of women and children on his hands. Big difference
19 January 2012, 19:53
211
Assad the butcher of Syria and Lebanon must go the same way as Kathafi?
19 January 2012, 23:44
26
what is sure: the general is alawi or from any minority, the four killed are probably if not for sure: sunnis.. so its a civil war.
the weaker syria=the stronger lebanon.. ma heik hassounti??
20 January 2012, 08:41
28
Cookie, it is not an "opinion" anymore dear, when there is blood on the ground, tens of thousands of people in jails, thousands killed and more wounded, thousands of videos for you to see online, it no longer is an opinion, look at what human rights groups all over the world are saying, they are calling for sending bashar and his thugs to court , these entities do not "opine" , they state humanitarian facts. Perhaps to you nazis/racists and murderers of people are heroes while the opressed are evil. hezbolah used to be decent before 2000 and converted to becoming a sectarian full fledged force post 2005, that is an opinion which btw is shared by the vast majority of the Arab street 2012..on this one yes it is my opinion.
21 January 2012, 23:51
00
Cookie, there is no pro bashar media except dunia and syria tv, he is up against the rest of the world including the modern world that you so eloquently use its language: english. Watch and learn how even the pro assad media in lebanon will start changing tone in the coming months (you can look at jadeed for instance), watch how berri is starting to vocally say that lebanon should stay away from Syrian affairs (big difference from being pro Assad already), the reason is again: you have no cause no qadiye.. and dictators only enjoy the support of people being paid benefits, no one will passionately fight for the regime (the Assad forces are becoming patheticaly unable to take over bab amr, zabadani and tonite douma! from a handful of fighters) and the rebels will get to his castle at the end like qadafe, matter of time.
