Syrian warplanes pounded the embattled town of al-Qusayr yesterday as a regime offensive backed by fighters from Lebanon’s Hezbollah to retake the town from rebels entered its third week.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported a fierce overnight onslaught both on the strategic town near the border with Lebanon and slightly farther north in Dabaa.
Dabaa, the site of a disused military airbase that had been seized by rebels battling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, is still partly under insurgent control.
The Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a wide network of activists, medics and others on the ground for its information, said there were numerous dead on both sides, but gave no breakdown of the casualties.
The watchdog also reported air strikes on the al-Hajar al-Aswad district of southern Damascus, where pillars of thick dark smoke barreled into the sky.
It said clashes between soldiers and rebels were ongoing in the Abasiyeen area outside the capital’s Jubar neighborhood, but again was.unable to give a casualty figure.
Meanwhile, following Turkey’s support for the uprising against the Syrian regime, Damascus is getting its own back, giving top media billing and devoting government commentary to the protests taking place in Turkey.
With more than a little schadenfreude, Syrian ministers have accused Turkey’s government of “terrorizing” its people, and described the days of protests in Istanbul and other Turkish cities as a “real Spring.”
On Sunday, the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs advised citizens to avoid traveling to Turkey because of a “deterioration in the security situation.”
The demonstrations in Turkey have been breathlessly covered by Syrian state television, which has run breaking news alerts saying protesters are calling for the resignation of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“You have to resign if you really respect democracy. This movement in Turkey is a real Spring,” said one Syrian analyst interviewed on the state Ikhbariya channel. “Syria stands with the Turkish people.”
On Saturday, Syrian Minister of Information Omran al-Zohbi also suggested Erdogan should step down.
“The demands of the Turkish people do not justify this violence and if Erdogan is incapable of using non-violent methods, then he should quit,” state television cited Zohbi as saying.
“The fact that he suppresses peaceful demonstrations proves that Erdogan is disconnected from reality,” Zohbi said. “The Turkish people do not deserve such savagery.”
The following day, Zohbi told reporters in Damascus that Turkey should “release all prisoners of conscience in Turkey,” adding that there was “no justification for the arrest of this huge number of peaceful demonstrators.”
“Erdogan should respect the will of his people and leave to Doha,” he added.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
RSS