Syrian forces renew strikes on defiant city of Hama

SYRIAN TANKS yesterday continued to shell the central city of Hama and the eastern town of Deir al-Zor following Sunday’s major crackdown on regime opponents that left at least 74 people dead across the country.

Human rights organisations said 55 of the fatalities were from Hama and nearby villages, strongholds of the Muslim Brotherhood and ultra-orthodox Salafis.

Deir al-Zor, the centre of Syria’s oil and gas sector in the east, is a mainly tribal town where inhabitants have been alienated by the arrest of tribal elders. Local co-ordinating committees that organise demonstrations said three people had been killed in Hama and two in the Deir al-Zor area, but activists and human rights bodies said the toll was much higher.

“Residents are committed to resistance by peaceful means,” said Oman Hamawi, a Hama-based activist. He said barriers had been erected in the streets which were defended by thousands of men “who are ready to defend the city with stones”.

He said the people of Hama would not permit a repetition of the 1982 military onslaught on armed Muslim Brotherhood fighters who had taken control of the city. Back then, entire quarters were destroyed and thousands slain. Some estimates put the death toll at 20,000.

Mr Hamawi said villagers surrounding Hama, a city of 800,000 people, had set up checkpoints and blocked roads and highways to the city. They also blocked off the highway to the northern city of Aleppo, the country’s commercial hub, he said.

The military is likely to move quickly to reopen the route, which links Aleppo to the capital Damascus and is an important artery for the transport of manufactured goods and essential foodstuffs from Turkey.

The army seems determined to contain protests in important cities such as Hama and Deir al-Zor, and to prevent the escalation of the revolt during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which began yesterday.

The government of President Bashar al-Assad has announced it will present a package of reforms in September.

The EU responded to the escalation of military attacks on civilians by widening economic sanctions. It has also frozen the assets of and imposed travel bans on five additional military and government figures, raising the number of targeted individuals to 35, including Mr Assad. Four government bodies are also on the list.

US president Barack Obama has called reports of the military offensive “horrifying” and said Mr Assad is “completely incapable and unwilling” to deal with the legitimate demands of the Syrian people. British foreign secretary William Hague said: “We want to see stronger international pressure all round,” including from Arab nations and Turkey.

Although the UN Security Council was set to discuss the situation in Syria, Mr Hague observed that there was “not a remote possibility” of UN-mandated international military intervention in Syria. Most Syrians, including the opposition, have rejected foreign involvement.