| Syrian security forces have arrested at least 500 pro-democracy activists, a rights group said, as the government continues a violent crackdown on anti-government protests across the country. The arrests followed the deployment of Syrian troops backed by tanks and heavy armour on the streets of two southern towns, the Syrian rights organisation Sawasiah said on Tuesday. The group said it had received reports that at least 20 people were killed in the city of Deraa in the aftermath of the raid by troops loyal to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad on Monday. But communications have been cut in the city, making it difficult to confirm the information.
The group said that two more civilians were confirmed dead after government forces entered Douma, a suburb of the capital, Damascus. At least 500 people were arrested elsewhere in the country, it said. Deaths and arrests Gunfire continued to reverberate across the city of Deraa on Tuesday, residents said, a day after thousands of soldiers swept into the city, with tanks taking up positions in the town centre and snipers deploying on rooftops, witnesses said. "We've been listening to live ammunition. Some snipers are working as well, but we don't know from where," a resident of Deraa told Al Jazeera on Tuesday. "The snipers are on all the roofs. I'm now on my stomach, on the ground - I am really in a panicked situation. The city is quite in danger." Witnesses said soldiers began opening fire on civilians indiscriminately after arriving in Deraa, sparking panic in the streets. However, the government insists the army was invited in to rid the town of gunmen. Al Jazeera's Rula Amin, reporting from Damascus, said the government has reiterated that it is there to protect residents.
"Then [the government will] come up with its own plan of reforms, but people won't be able to stand up and defy these reforms. That is how the government wants to move forward." She said the troop deployment was an "unprecedented" offensive against the wave of dissent that has swept the country since the uprising began on March 15. Up until now, she said, security forces had cracked down in reaction to protests. But the flood of troops into Douma and Deraa came in the absence of any demonstrations. "We're seeing a different tactic, with security forces sweeping the towns," she said, noting reports of house-to-house searches, arrests and random shooting coming from both towns. Also for the first time, the military has become directly involved in quelling the uprising, much to the disappointment of opposition activists. "They were hoping the army would not get involved," our correspondent said. "They feel this is only the beginning of a very serious crackdown." However, one activist told Al Jazeera that some army officers have defected to fight alongside the people of Deraa against the government. Two members stepped down from the provincial council in Deraa. The resignations came a day after two legislators and a religious leader from Deraa broke with the government in disgust over the killings. Protesters gunned down Meanwhile, in the coastal town of Jableh, where several protesters were gunned down on Sunday, witnesses said security forces in camouflage uniforms - some with their faces covered - and masked armed men dressed in black were roaming the town's streets. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Syrian rights group, said on Monday that at least 13 people had been killed in Jableh since Sunday's crackdown began.
Syria has also closed all border crossings on its southern frontier with Jordan as the crackdown intensifies, a security official told Al Jazeera. Syrian intellectuals have expressed their outrage over the violence, with a declaration on Monday signed by 102 writers and exiles from all the country's main sects. "We condemn the violent, oppressive practices of the Syrian regime against the protesters and mourn the martyrs of the uprising," they said. President Assad is also coming under increased foreign pressure to stop the deadly crackdown. France, Britain, Germany and Portugal have all urged the UN Security Council to condemn the government's violent action against demonstrators, and the United States is considering imposing new sanctions. | |||||
The United States has ordered embassy family members and some non-emergency personnel to leave Syria, citing the “uncertainty and volatility” of a crackdown on protesters there.
The State Department’s directive early Tuesday, along with a travel warning telling US citizens to leave the country, followed another day of violent attacks on protesters by Syrian security forces. At least 26 people in Deraa were reported killed on Monday in assaults by Syrian tanks and troops.
“The Department of State has ordered all eligible family members of US government employees as well as certain non-emergency personnel to depart Syria,” the statement said, according to Agence-France Press.
“US citizens in Syria are advised to depart while commercial transportation is readily available,” the statement said.
Some 390 people have been killed in security crackdowns in the country of 23 million people since the protests erupted, rights activists and witnesses told AFP.
Washington has been analyzing what steps to take against Syria in response to the violence. It is considering targeted sanctions but has not called for President Bashar al-Assad to step down.
Washington earlier Monday also defended the presence of an American ambassador in Damascus. The ambassador, who arrived in January 2011, was the first to fill the post in six years.
Sanctions would mark a more assertive approach by the US President Barack Obama’s administration, which has been criticized by human rights groups for not doing more to curb Mr. Assad’s efforts to crush a month-long uprising against his autocratic 11-year rule.
Mr. Obama’s response to the Syrian crisis has been limited compared to Washington’s role in a NATO-led air campaign against Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s forces and its call for his ouster.
President Obama spoke by phone with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, and the White House later said they expressed deep concern about the violence in Syria, Reuters reported.
“The leaders agreed that the Syrian government must end the use of violence now and promptly enact meaningful reforms that respect the democratic aspirations of Syrian citizens,” the White House said.
Washington is mindful of its limited ability to influence Damascus, which is already under a set of US economic sanctions and is closely allied with Iran, a US foe.
The Obama administration is also worried about stoking instability on US ally Israel’s borders and wants to avoid another military entanglement in the Muslim world, where it is involved in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
On Monday, Syrian troops backed by tanks moved into the flashpoint town of Deraa, killing at least 26 people, witnesses said, as Damascus was accused of resorting to military force to crush dissent.
President Assad lifted a 48-year state of emergency last Thursday but activists say violence the following day, when 100 protesters were killed, showed he was not serious about reform.
Questions have been raised whether new US sanctions against Mr. Assad and his aides—such as the steps taken against Colonel Qaddafi and his loyalists—would have much tangible impact.
Washington and other Western powers have been trying for two years to woo Mr. Assad away from Tehran and encourage the 46-year-old British-trained eye doctor to reach a peace deal with Israel, according to Reuters.
Western sanctions could push Syria more tightly into Tehran’s embrace and risk further regional instability by stoking sectarian strife.
Source-Al arabia and Al Jajeera
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