Anti-government activists say gunboats and armoured vehicles have fired on Sunni-majority city, killing at least 19 people
Nour Ali
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 14 August 2011
"At least 19 people were shot dead in the Syrian port city of Latakia on Sunday morning as the Assad regime's aggressive military campaign to quell protests during the holy month of Ramadan continued.
Machine guns were fired from at least one ship and several armoured vehicles at the neighbourhood of Ramel, according to local residents and activists.
"Tanks and armoured cars entered as far as possible into the narrow streets and they started to use machine guns to fire at some houses," said Amer al-Sadeq, a pseudonym for a representative of the Syrian Revolution Co-ordinators Union.
Another local activist network, the Local Co-ordination Committees, posted amateur footage on its Facebook page showing a boat apparently patrolling the Latakia coastline, although its location could not be confirmed.....
Ahmad said a small number of soldiers had defected in the area to join the fightback against the regime. "Now there is a battle between defected soldiers and the others," he said.
Radwan Ziadeh, a US-based Syrian human rights expert, told the Guardian: "The regime is repeating what it did in Hama and Deir Ezzor to try to put an end to this. And every time we see more violence, some soldiers defect, and we see more violence."
Opposition figures are looking for greater splits in the army than handfuls of defectors, which they see as key to toppling the regime. The regime, which has not spoken about the assault in Latakia, claims it is fighting armed gangs and Islamists."
Nour Ali
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 14 August 2011
"At least 19 people were shot dead in the Syrian port city of Latakia on Sunday morning as the Assad regime's aggressive military campaign to quell protests during the holy month of Ramadan continued.
Machine guns were fired from at least one ship and several armoured vehicles at the neighbourhood of Ramel, according to local residents and activists.
"Tanks and armoured cars entered as far as possible into the narrow streets and they started to use machine guns to fire at some houses," said Amer al-Sadeq, a pseudonym for a representative of the Syrian Revolution Co-ordinators Union.
Another local activist network, the Local Co-ordination Committees, posted amateur footage on its Facebook page showing a boat apparently patrolling the Latakia coastline, although its location could not be confirmed.....
Ahmad said a small number of soldiers had defected in the area to join the fightback against the regime. "Now there is a battle between defected soldiers and the others," he said.
Radwan Ziadeh, a US-based Syrian human rights expert, told the Guardian: "The regime is repeating what it did in Hama and Deir Ezzor to try to put an end to this. And every time we see more violence, some soldiers defect, and we see more violence."
Opposition figures are looking for greater splits in the army than handfuls of defectors, which they see as key to toppling the regime. The regime, which has not spoken about the assault in Latakia, claims it is fighting armed gangs and Islamists."
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