Syrian forces are reportedly shelling residential districts in Latakia today on the third day of an assault on Sunni neighbourhoods of the port city that had seen mounting protests against President Bashar al-Assad's rule.
Mr Assad, from Syria's minority Alawite sect, has broadened a military assault to try to crush a five-month street uprising demanding his removal since the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan on August 1st, when daily protests against 41 years of the Assad family rule began to increase.
Latakia is the latest city to be stormed after Hama, scene of a 1982 massacre by the military, the eastern city of Deir al-Zor, capital of a tribal province bordering Iraq's Sunni heartland, and several towns in the northwestern Idlib province, which borders Turkey.
"Shelling has renewed on al-Raml al-Filistini and al-Shaab districts. There is heavy machinegun firing on Sulaibeh, al-Ashrafieh, al-Quneines and al-Ouneineh and the citadel neighbourhoods," one resident said by telephone.
"People are trying to flee, but they cannot leave Latakia because it is besieged. The best they can do is to move from one area to another within the city," another witness told Reuters.
The Syrian Revolution Coordinating Union, a grassroots activists' group, said a man (22) was killed by Mr Assad's forces today, bringing the total killed in the three-day sea and land assault on Latakia to at least 31 civilians, including a two-year-old girl.
Tanks and navy ships shelled southern parts of Latakia yesterday, rights groups said. Around 20,000 people have been rallying daily to demand Mr Assad's removal in different areas of the city after Ramadan evening prayers, said one witness.
The official state news agency denied that Latakia was shelled from the sea and said two police and four unidentified armed men were killed when "order preservation forces pursued armed men who were terrorising residents . . . and using machineguns and explosives from rooftops and from behind barricades".
Unlike most other Syrian cities, which are predominantly Sunni, Latakia has a large Alawite population because of its proximity to the Alawite Mountains and because Mr Assad and his father have encouraged Alawites to move from their traditional mountain region, offering them cheap land and jobs in the public sector and security apparatus.
Reuters