Syrian uprising takes dangerous new turn with more than 250 killed in 11 days
BEIRUT — Syrians snatched from their homes turn up dead, often mutilated. Soldiers gun down former comrades who defected to the opposition. A human rights group reports that electric shocks and hot iron rods are used to torture detainees.
November is shaping up to be the bloodiest month yet in Syria’s 8-month-old uprising. More than 250 Syrian civilians have been killed in the past 11 days as the regime besieges the renegade city of Homs and the conflict takes a dangerous turn, stoking fears of civil war.
The U.N. estimates some 3,500 people have been killed in the crackdown since mid-March, when the uprising began.burberry outlet cheap The latest figures would push that number closer to 4,000.
The bloodshed has spiked dramatically in recent weeks amid signs that more protesters are taking up arms to protect themselves, changing the face of what has been a largely peaceful movement. Many fear the change plays directly into the hands of the regime by giving the military a pretext to crack down with increasing force.
There also have been reports of intense battles between soldiers and army defectors, setting the stage for even more bloodshed. Although the crackdown has led to broad international isolation, President Bashar Assad appears to have a firm grip on power.
The most serious violence has been in Homs, the epicenter of the uprising, which the regime has been fighting to contain all month.
“We have seen urban warfare in some areas where army defections occurred,” said Hozan Ibrahim, a spokesman for the Local Coordination Committees, an activist coalition. “The soldiers are having a hard time advancing. They often come under attack from the defectors and this explains why they are shooting more.”
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