Syria deploys troops and tanks in brutal crackdown
The Syrian government mobilises hundreds of troops, backed by tanks and armoured vehicles, in a determined effort to crack down on anti-government protests.
Most of today’s violence was in the city of Deraa, where the popular uprising first began a month ago.
At least five people are said have been killed there in the first reported use of tanks inside a population centre since pro-democracy demonstrations began on 18 March. One activist said 18 people have been killed, with many others wounded or missing.
Witnesses are speaking of bodies in the streets after eight tanks and two armoured vehicles were deploy in Deraa’s old quarter.
One leading human rights campaigner has said that security forces – which have also descended on Douma, another centre of unrest on the outskirts of Damascus – are waging “a savage war designed to annihilate Syria’s democrats”.
The 48-year state of emergency in Syria was lifted on Thursday, but activists say the violence the following day, in which an estimated 100 people were killed in protests across the country, shows that President Assad is not serious about addressing calls for greater political freedom.
On Friday US President Barack Obama urged President Assad to stop the “outrageous use of violence to quell protests”. The United States is now considering possible sanctions against the regime.
The measures could include a freeze on assets and a ban on business dealings in the United States, according to a US official, although there was no word on when such sanctions might be imposed.
Meanwhile UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay denounced the escalation of violence in Syria, calling for the release of detained activists and political prisoners.
“The first step now is to immediately halt the use of violence, then to conduct a full and independent investigation into the killings, including the alleged killing of military and security officers, and to bring the perpetrators to justice,” Ms Pillay said.
