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Last updated on Thursday, 14 July 2011 11:34
Syrian Forces Kill Four in Renewed Assaults

  
AMMAN: The Syrian military killed four villagers on Wednesday near Turkey, rights campaigners said, in an expansion of a military campaign to crush dissent against President Bashar al-Assad, reported Reuters.

According to the report, the four were killed in tank-backed assaults on at least four villages in the Jabal al-Zawya region in northwestern Idlib province near the border with Turkey, an activist in Idlib and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Assad, from Syria's Alawite minority sect, an offshoot of Islam, is struggling to put down widening demonstrations in outlying rural and tribal regions, in suburbs of the capital and in cities such as Hama and Homs demanding an end to his autocratic rule.

Mass arrests and heavy deployment of security forces, including an irregular Alawite militia known as shabbiha, have prevented demonstrations in central neighborhoods of Damascus and in the commercial hub of Aleppo.

Military assaults on towns and villages in Idlib began five weeks ago after large demonstrations across the rural province demanding political freedoms, forcing thousands of refugees to flee to Turkey.

"We are seeing a military escalation following the regime's political escalation," the activist in Idlib, who declined to be named for fear of arrest, told Reuters by phone.

He was referring to the arbitrary arrests of thousands of Syrians that intensified in the last two weeks, according to human rights campaigners.

The arrests continued despite the authorities convening what they described as a "national dialogue" conference composed mostly of Assad supporters. Assad loyalists also attacked the U.S. and French embassies in Damascus.

Assad loyalists in the coastal city of Latakia surrounded the British Council on Wednesday, a main institution for Syrians wanting to learn English.

They threw eggs and tomatoes into the compound while shouting profanities against Britain and Prime Minister David Cameron, but did not enter the premises, a witness said.

Syrian security forces arrested at least 30 people, including prominent film directors Nabil Maleh and Mohammad Malas, known for works chronicling malaise under Assad family rule, and actress May Skaf, during a pro-democracy protest in Damascus on Wednesday, rights organizations said.

They were among a group of artists who issued a declaration this week denouncing state violence against protesters and demanding accountability for the killings of civilians and the release of thousands of political prisoners held without trial.

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