Syrian Troops Hammer Hama for Second Day

By Jasper Fakkert
August 1, 2011

Pressure grows for U.N. to condemn crackdown.

Syrian military forces pounded the protest city of Hama with artillery on Monday, making it the second day of an intensified campaign on the city. On Sunday, troops and tanks entered the city, destroying barricades set up by residents as a buffer between themselves and the coming onslaught.

Syrian rights groups estimate 100 people were killed in Hama and three other cities, Deir Ezzor, Daraa, and Idib, on Sunday. On Monday, five civilians were killed in Hama and dozens more were injured by the random shelling of tanks, according to the Local Coordination Committees, an organization of Syrian human rights organizations.

The city of Hama, which has become a key protest town against the rule of Syrian president Bashir al-Assad, already bore a bloody crackdown by Assad’s father in 1982 in which an estimated 10,000 people were killed.

In the current uprising, Hama had come under siege one month ago after an estimated 500,000 people took to the streets calling for political reform and Assad to step down.

With the intense crackdown on Hama, Assad has further distanced himself from his promises of national dialogue as part of the solution to the unrest in the country. Instead, international outcry over Assad’s handling of the demonstrations has intensified over the past days.

“I am appalled by the Syrian government’s use of violence and brutality against its own people. The reports out of Hama are horrifying and demonstrate the true character of the Syrian regime,” said U.S. President Barack Obama in a statement on Sunday.

“His use of torture, corruption, and terror puts him on the wrong side of history and his people,” Obama said.

Having reached its fifth month, the popular uprising in Syria, inspired by similar protests across the Arab world, has claimed an estimated 1,500 lives according to rights groups.

In response to a call from Germany for the United Nations Security Council to call an emergency session to respond to the unfolding events in Hama, the 15-member body met on Monday in New York.

A modified version of a draft resolution condemning the Syrian authorities for its crackdown was circulated at the meeting. An earlier draft of the resolution, introduced by Britain, France, Germany, and Portugal, was blocked by China and Russia in May this year. As permanent members of the Security Council—along with the United States, France, and the U.K.—they hold veto power over any resolution.

“It’s clear that President Bashar al-Assad is unwilling to halt his security forces, so the U.N. must take decisive action to stem this violent campaign of repression,” said Philip Luther, deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa for Amnesty International, in a press release on Monday.

The European Union announced on Monday that in response to the clampdown on the city of Hama five Syrian officials “involved in or associated with the violent repression” would have sanctions imposed on them, including a travel ban and the freezing of assets.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/syrian-troops-hammer-hama-for-second-day-59845.html.