Beirut:
Syria has used gunboats for the first time to crush the uprising against Bashar Assad's regime, hammering parts of the Mediterranean coastal city of Latakia after thousands marched there over the weekend to demand the president's ouster. At least 25 people were killed, according to activists.
Yesterday's coordinated attacks by gunboats and ground troops were the latest wave of a brutal offensive against anti-government protests launched at the beginning of the month. The assault showed Assad has no intention of scaling back the campaign even though it has brought international outrage and new US and European sanctions.
"We are being targeted from the ground and the sea," said a frightened resident of the al-Ramel district of Latakia, the hardest hit neighborhood. "The shooting is intense. We cannot go out. They are raiding and breaking into people's homes," he added, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.As the gunships blasted waterfront districts, ground troops backed by tanks and security forces stormed several neighborhoods including al-Ramel, sending terrified women and children fleeing, some on foot, to safer areas.
The al-Ramel resident said at least three gunboats were taking part in the offensive, and that many people have been killed and wounded. The shooting targeted several mosques in the area.
"Many homes have been destroyed and the shabiha have broken into shops and businesses," he said, referring to pro-government gunmen, as they are called by Syrians.
The assault on Latakia began Saturday, when tanks and armored personnel carriers rolled into al-Ramel district amid intense gunfire. The security forces appear to be intent on crushing dissent in the neighborhood, which has seen large anti-Assad protests since the Syrian uprising began in mid-March. On Friday, as many as 10,000 marched there, calling for the president's ouster.
After their initial assault on the city Saturday, Syrian forces pushed back into Latakia again yesterday.
State-run news agency SANA said troops were pursuing "gunmen using machine guns, hand grenades and bombs who have been terrorizing residents in al-Ramel district." The agency denied reports the area was being targeted from the sea. It quoted a health official in Latakia as saying two law enforcement officials were killed.
At least 25 people were killed in the city on yesterday, said Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. One of the dead was a 2-year-old girl who was in a car with her father when security forces at a checkpoint opened fire, he said. The activist network the Local Coordination Committees gave the same death toll and said it included three children.