BEIRUT—Syrian artillery pounded the rebellious city of Homs, and government tanks and troops stormed towns in the north and south on Wednesday, deepening doubts that President Bashar al-Assad will follow through on his commitment to a truce starting next week.
WSJ United Nations correspondent Joe Lauria reports Syria has accepted April 10 as the date to end violent attacks, in which an estimated 9,000 people have died. AP Photo.
Related Article
Turkey Girds for a Spike in Syrian Violence
Antiregime activists cited the new assaults as evidence that Mr. Assad is trying to crush those seeking to overthrow his regime before the cease-fire brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan is set to begin on April 10. Activist groups reported more than 50 dead nationwide for the day.
Russia, a key Assad ally, warned other nations not to arm the opposition, predicting such a move would only increase bloodshed.
The international community is sharply divided over how to stop the violence that has left more than 9,000 people dead over the past year.
Related Video
International Committee of Red Cross President Jakob Kellenberger met with high-level Syrian officials to discuss the humanitarian crisis in the country. (Video: Reuters/Photo: AP)
World leaders meet in Turkey to discuss the ongoing violence in Syria and ways to end a violent crackdown on opposition groups that has left thousands dead. (Video: Reuters/Photo: Getty Images)
Mr. Assad agreed this week to implement the cease-fire from April 10. The truce is the keystone of a six-point plan put forward by Mr. Annan, the joint United Nations-Arab League envoy. It requires regime forces to withdraw from towns and cities, followed by a withdrawal by rebel fighters. All sides are then supposed to hold talks on a political solution.
A Syrian government official said Tuesday that troops had begun withdrawing from some calm cities and were moving to the outskirts of tense areas. He gave no further details.
Activists reached by telephone Wednesday in north, south and central Syria said they had seen no sign the military was pulling out.
Some reported the opposite. "They are still sending in reinforcements," said Yazeed al-Baradan in the southern town of Tafas. He said government tanks and armored cars pushed in early in the day, beefed up checkpoints around the city and torched more than a dozen homes of known regime opponents.
Regional Upheaval
Track events day by day in the region.
View Interactive
More photos and interactive graphics
Another activist in the northern province of Idlib gave a similar report. "We don't see any proof of withdrawals here," said Fadi al-Yassin. "Anyone who gives a promise to the U.N. that he will withdraw his troops has to show good intentions, but we know Assad has no good intentions. These are just maneuvers by the regime."
The opposition suspects Mr. Assad agreed to the plan to buy more time to continue his crackdown on the revolt.
Syria's uprising began in March 2011 when protesters inspired by other Arab Spring revolts took to the streets to call for political reform. The regime has tried to violently quash spreading dissent, and many in the opposition have since taken up arms.
But the local rebels fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army are outgunned by Mr. Assad's large, professional forces, and the failure of diplomacy to stop the violence has left many rebels calling for more arms.
"We have only one demand and that is the arming of the Free Army," said Mr. Baradan, the Tafas activist. "Then, God willing, we will topple the regime ourselves."
A group of some 70 nations pledged this week to supply the opposition with aid and communications equipment, while Saudi Arabia and some of its Gulf Arab neighbors have started a fund to support rebel fighters. Much about the fund remains unclear, and any weapons reaching the rebels from outside Syria have yet to make a noticeable difference on the ground.
Syrian ally Russia warned that if other countries armed the opposition, it would exacerbate the conflict.
"Even if they arm the Syrian opposition to the teeth, it won't be able to defeat the Syrian army," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. "The carnage will go on for many years."
Russia and China have resisted international calls for Mr. Assad to resign and have twice protected Syria from censure by the U.N. Security Council. But both countries have endorsed Mr. Annan's plan, which doesn't call for Mr. Assad to leave power—the uprising's central demand.
Most opposition figures dismiss the Annan plan as too little, too late.
Activists around the country reported government shelling, raids and gunfire that killed dozens of civilians and a number of rebel fighters and government soldiers.
Activist videos posted online showed explosions and columns of black smoke rising from the rebellious central city of Homs, apparently from government shelling.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 28 civilians were killed in government attacks in Homs and nearby towns.
It said rebels clashed with government troops in the area, trying to stop the government's advances, leaving four opposition fighters and 14 soldiers dead.
The Observatory also reported government shelling and raids in Idlib and southern Daraa provinces as well as an explosion in Beit Saham near Damascus that killed seven people. The Syrian government reported seven dead and blamed the blast on "terrorists" preparing explosives.
The Observatory and another activist network, the Local Coordination Committees, put the day's death toll at more than 50.
Activists' claims couldn't be independently verified. The Syrian government rarely comments on specific incidents and has barred most media from working in the country.
Throughout the uprising, it has blamed the violence on terrorists serving a foreign conspiracy. It has yet to comment on the April 10 deadline, though Mr. Annan and Russian officials have said it has accepted it.
The regime has accepted other peace plans in the past only to ignore them on the ground.
The violence has taken a high toll on civilians, and the International Committee of the Red Cross is pressing Syria to give aid workers access to embattled areas. The group's president, Jakob Kellenberger, visited Daraa province Wednesday with a team that distributed around 1,000 food baskets, said spokesman Saleh Dabbakeh.
Mr. Kellenberger hasn't commented publicly since he arrived on Monday.
Syria, Syria, Syria, President Bashar al-Assad, Syrian government, Syrian government, government tanks, government tanks, Kofi Annan, government, Assad, Assad, VideoInternational Committee of Red Cross President Jakob Kellenberger, Jakob Kellenberger, regime, regime
No comments:
Post a Comment