Tanks rumbled into the central Syrian city of Homs at dawn yesterday, a day after security forces killed at least 34 anti-regime protesters across the country, adding urgency to a UN mission expected this weekend.
“Several tanks took up positions at dawn in the district of al-Khalidiyeh” in Homs, said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
“Throughout the night and this morning shots were heard from al-Khalidiyeh to Baba Amr and Inshaat,” he said, referring to two other central locations in the city.
Regime forces were also conducting arrests in the city of Latakia early yesterday, the Observatory said, adding that many of those picked up were minors.
In addition, one person was wounded yesterday in the al-Herak district of southern Daraa Province where relatives and parents staged a protest outside a hospital demanding the bodies of their loved ones, the Observatory said.
The rights advocacy group said the death toll from Friday’s crackdown on protesters rose to 34, including 15 people who were killed in Daraa where 25 others were also wounded.
It said security forces had also killed 16 civilians in Homs, including five in the flashpoint neighborhood of al-Khalidiyeh.
Three protesters were also shot dead on Friday in the Damascus suburbs of Harasta and Douma, the Observatory said.
The UN said that a humanitarian mission would visit Syria this weekend to witness the effects of the crackdown on protesters.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay told the UN Security Council on Thursday there was “reliable corroborative evidence” that Syrian forces are deliberately shooting anti-regime demonstrators.
Pillay also said in an interview with France 24 television that her department had drawn up a list of 50 Syrians in senior positions that she said were responsible for violent repression.
The civilian death toll from the security force crackdown on the protests has now passed 2,000, UN Undersecretary-General B. Lynn Pascoe also told the Security Council on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Russia and Turkey dismissed growing calls led by US President Barack Obama for Assad to quit, offering the Syrian leader rare support despite a damning UN report on his “apparent shoot to kill” policy.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source