Anti-regime protesters in Syria yesterday planned the start of a “week of breaking the siege” a day after troops killed six civilians in the southern flashpoint city of Daraa.
The Syrian Revolution 2011, a driving force behind the protests, vowed in a Facebook statement that “we will only kneel before God” and gave a schedule of protests in solidarity with Daraa and the Damascus suburb of Douma, both besieged since Monday last week.
Troops in tanks backed by other armored vehicles cruised Daraa streets yesterday, shooting to keep residents indoors and arresting men aged 15 and over, an activist from the town said by telephone.
“Since early morning, the army and security forces have been combing neighborhoods one by one and making sweeping arrests. Hundreds have been arrested since Friday,” Abdullah Abizad said.
Thousands of troops stormed into Daraa six days ago and imposed a draconian siege on the town, the epicenter of seven weeks of protests against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Meanwhile, 138 more members of Assad’s ruling Baath party resigned in protest at the deadly crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators, according to collective resignation lists received on Saturday by reporters in Nicosia.
Activists said countrywide protests from yesterday would begin a “week of breaking the siege” — a reference to Daraa and Douma — with demonstrations planned for Daraa yesterday and around Damascus today.
Rallies are planned for tomorrow in the northern towns of Banias and Jableh, Wednesday in Homs, Talbisseh and in Tall Kalakh on the border with Lebanon, and nationwide night vigils on Thursday.
Water and power have been cut in Daraa as the situation worsened after 3,000 to 5,000 troops supported by tanks stormed the town nearly a week ago.
Abizad said living conditions were worsening.
“The humanitarian situation is very dire. There is no water, no food, no electricity. There are six bodies on the streets since Friday and we cannot get to them because of the snipers. There are also wounded we cannot reach,” Abizad said. “The snipers shoot at everything that moved. We had a dog in our neighborhood, a white dog, and they even shot him.”
On Saturday, six more civilians were killed when the army pounded Daraa, while snipers on rooftops fired at anyone venturing out, activists said. The military said one soldier was killed and seven others wounded in Daraa on Saturday.
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
RULES BROKEN: The MAC warned Chinese not to say anything that would be harmful to the autonomous status of Taiwan or undermine its sovereignty A Chinese couple accused of disrupting a pro-democracy event in Taipei organized by Hong Kong residents has been deported, the National Immigration Agency said in a statement yesterday afternoon. A Chinese man, surnamed Yao (姚), and his wife were escorted by immigration officials to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, where they boarded a flight to China before noon yesterday, the agency said. The agency said that it had annulled the couple’s entry permits, citing alleged contraventions of the Regulations Governing the Approval of Entry of People of the Mainland Area into the Taiwan Area (大陸地區人民進入台灣地區許可辦法). The couple applied to visit a family member in
RSS