Syria: Dozens Killed In Fresh Violence

Syrian forces shelled a town in the country’s restive north and opened fire on scattered protests nationwide, killing at least 32 people on Friday, activists said. Hundreds of Syrians streamed across the border into Turkey, trying to escape the violence as Ankara considered setting up a buffer zone between the countries in the event of a massive influx of refugees..

A Syrian opposition figure told The Associated Press by telephone that thousands of protesters overwhelmed security officers and torched the courthouse and police station in the northern town of Maaret Al-Numan, and the army responded with tank shells.

Syria’s state-run television appeared to confirm at least part of the report, saying gunmen opened fire on troops in Maaret Al-Numan, causing casualties.

The Local Coordination Committees, a group that documents anti-government protests in Syria, said at least 32 people died in protests and army operations, half of them in the northwestern province of Idlib. The group said many of the casualties were in Maaret Al-Numan.

Forty kilometers to the west in the same province, Syrian troops backed by dozens of tanks massed outside the virtually deserted town of Jisr Al-Shughour and shelled nearby villages. Late Friday, Syrian television said troops reached the entrances of the town and detained members of “armed groups.”

According to activists, many of the troops belong to the army’s elite 4th Division, which is commanded by President Bashar Assad’s younger brother, Maher. The use of the loyalist forces could reflect the regime’s concern about whether regular military units would remain loyal if called upon to crush the uprising in the north.

Other protests in Syria occurred in neighborhoods in the capital, Damascus, and the major city of Aleppo, which are vital to Assad’s regime. But the demonstrations in those cities have been relatively limited in scope compared to other restive areas.

Syrians who escaped into Turkey depicted a week of revolt and mayhem in Jisr Al-Shughour, saying police turned their guns on each other and soldiers shed their uniforms rather than fire on protesters. Syrian television said the operation aimed to restore security in the town, where authorities say 120 officers and security personnel were killed by gunmen last week.

Nearly 4,000 Syrians had crossed into Turkey by Friday, nearly all of them in the past two days, according to Turkish media.

A Syrian refugee at a camp in Turkey accused Syrian forces of attacking civilians.

“Bashar Assad is killing his own people in order to stay in power,” Abdulkerim Haji Yousef told AP Television News, standing behind a fence at one of three camps set up for Syrians.

The Turkish daily Hurriyet quoted Foreign Ministry officials as saying that among scenarios top government officials discussed at a meeting Friday was the creation of a buffer zone if hundreds of thousands want to seek refuge in Turkey. However, this is not seen as a near-term prospect.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has used his close ties to Assad in an attempt to press the Syrian leader to make concessions to the protesters, described the crackdown as “savagery.” His government has said it will not shut its border to Syrians fleeing violence, and the Turkish military was increasing security along the border to better manage the refugee influx.

“Unfortunately, it is clear that things are not going in the right direction,” Anatolia news agency cited Turkish President Abdullah Gul as saying. “We are following things with sadness.”

Tanks were on the outer edges of Jisr Al-Shughour on Friday, preparing to enter, an AP reporter accompanying Syrian troops on a government-organized trip said. He said the army announced the start of operations at around 5 a.m. Friday. Witnesses contacted by telephone said most residents had abandoned the town of up to 45,000.

Citing contacts inside Syria, Rami Abdul-Rahman, the London-based head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said more than 10,000 soldiers were involved.

The invitation to an AP reporter to accompany troops to Jisr Al-Shughour appeared to reflect a Syrian government effort to counter criticism and prove the existence of armed gangs. “Now we feel safe,” said Walida Sheikho, a 50-year-old woman in the village of Foro, near Jisr Al-Shughour.