Syrian tanks shelled a hill region in the northwestern province of Idlib, residents and activists said, in a military assault to suppress protests in rural areas that have already driven thousands of refugees to Turkey.
The overnight assault was launched a day after the authorities announced they would invite opponents to talks on July 10 to set a framework for a dialogue promised by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has faced criticism from Western governments over the military campaign to crush a three-month uprising against his rule.
Opposition leaders have dismissed the offer, saying it is not credible while mass killings and arrests continue.
“I can hear heavy explosions 20km to the north, around the villages of Rama and Orum al-Joz. My relatives there say the shelling is random,” said a resident of Kin Safra village in Jabal al-Zawya region, west of the highway linking the cities of Hama and Aleppo.
Rights campaigners say troops, security forces and gunmen loyal to Assad have killed more than 1,300 civilians since the uprising for political freedom erupted in March, including over 150 people killed in a scorched earth campaign against towns and villages in Idlib.
They say scores of troops and police were also killed for refusing to fire on civilians. Syrian authorities say more than 250 soldiers and police died in clashes with “armed terrorist groups,” whom they also blame for most civilian deaths.
Assad adviser Bouthaina Shaaban told Sky News: “We hope that by conducting and hastening the national dialogue, we will be able to isolate any militant or violent group and work together with the international community to overcome that big problem.”
Opposition figure Ammar al-Qarabi, head of the Syrian National Organization for Human Rights, said the latest shelling appeared in preparation for storming Jabal al-Zawya, a region of several villages 35km south of Turkey that has been witnessing spreading protests against Assad’s 11-year rule.
“Jabal al-Zawya was one of the first regions in Syria where people took to the streets demanding the downfall of the regime. The military attacks have now reached them and they will likely result in more killings and in more refugees to Turkey,” Qarabi, who is from Idlib, said by telephone from Cairo.
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