Residents in the Syrian capital awoke to two loud explosions yesterday amid unconfirmed reports from activists that a major building belonging to the ruling Baath party had been by hit several rocket-propelled grenades.
There were no immediate details or confirmation of the report, but the Free Syrian Army (FSA), a group of army defectors, claimed responsibility for the attack.
In a statement posted on the group’s Facebook page, the FSA said the assault caused casualties and damage to the building. However, eyewitnesses said the party headquarters appeared intact and reported no significant security deployment around it.
If true, the Damascus attack on the Baath Party’s main building would signal a turning point in the eight-month revolution against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, bringing the violence that has engulfed much of the rest of the country to the heart of the Syrian capital — so far relatively untouched.
Assad, meanwhile, vowed to continue with a security crackdown to crush “militants” who he says are massacring Syrians on a daily basis.
“The role of the government is to fight those militants in order to restore stability and to protect civilians,” he said in an interview with Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper published yesterday. “We have to prevent militants from doing what they are doing now, killing civilians doing massacres, in different places in Syria.”
He also repeated earlier warnings that any foreign military intervention in Syria would “shake the entire Middle East.”
Syria’s uprising against Assad, although largely peaceful, has grown more violent and militarized in recent weeks, as frustrated protesters see the limits of peaceful action.
Army dissidents who sided with the protests have also grown bolder, fighting back against regime forces and even attacking military bases.
The UN says more than 3,500 people in Syria have been killed in the crackdown since the start of the uprising in the middle of March. Assad, in the interview, said more than 800 Syrian officers and security forces were killed.
The interview came a day after the passing of an Arab League deadline for Syria to comply with an Arab peace plan and accept observers. Syrian TV said the country’s foreign minister would later yesterday announce Damascus’ position on the Arab initiative.
Assad lashed out at the 22-member organization and said the initiative was aimed at giving the international community an excuse to meddle in his country.
“It’s been done to show that there’s a problem between the Arabs, thus providing Western countries with a pretext to conduct a military intervention against Syria,” he said.
The consequence of any such intervention, he has said, would be “an earthquake that would shake the entire Middle East.”
Assad said he feels “pain and sorrow” for the bloodshed, but added the solution was to eliminate the militants he blames for much of the violence.
His regime maintains the militants are playing out a foreign agenda to isolate and weaken Syria.
“The conflict will continue and the pressure to subjugate Syria will also continue,” Assad said. “However I assure you that Syria will not bow down and that it will continue to resist the pressure being imposed on it.”
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
CHINA’s BULLYING: The former British prime minister said that he believes ‘Taiwan can and will’ protect its freedom and democracy, as its people are lovers of liberty Former British prime minister Boris Johnson yesterday said Western nations should have the courage to stand with and deepen their economic partnerships with Taiwan in the face of China’s intensified pressure. He made the remarks at the ninth Ketagalan Forum: 2025 Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prospect Foundation in Taipei. Johnson, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time, said he had seen Taiwan’s coastline on a screen on his indoor bicycle, but wanted to learn more about the nation, including its artificial intelligence (AI) development, the key technology of the 21st century. Calling himself an
Sixty-three Chinese incursions into waters and airspace around Taiwan were detected in the 24 hours to 6am yesterday, with 38 craft crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entering the nation’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. The activity represented a ramp-up of Beijing’s “gray zone” warfare directed at Taiwan over the past two days, the ministry said. A wave of 31 Chinese craft, consisting of fighters, fighter-bombers and uncrewed aerial vehicles, was tracked from 5:45am to 7:50am on Thursday, it said. In an apparent act of provocation, 13 of them
RSS