Syrian forces kill eleven in crackdown
Syrian soldiers who defected to join the Free Syrian Army are seen among demonstrators during a protest against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Khalidieh, near Homs January 2012.
Image by: HANDOUT / REUTERS
Image by: HANDOUT / REUTERS
Eleven people were killed Saturday near the Syrian capital Damascus, as government forces pursued their countrywide crackdown on the opposition for a fourth consecutive day, activists said.
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According to the activists, security forces and the military were targeting areas on the outskirts of Damascus and the central provinces of Hama and Homs, which have been at the centre of anti-government protests.
The Fourth Army Brigade, headed by Maher al-Assad, brother of President Bahsar al-Assad, was spearheading the "bloody operations," Damascus-based activist Ahmed al- Mallah told dpa.
State media reported an explosion at a gas pipeline in Deir al-Zour, 450 kilometres east of Damascus. Activists said the blast was caused by a stray shell fired by army tanks.
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