Onslaught Against Syrian Government’s Enemies Grows
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JOSEPH EID/AFP/Getty Images(DAMASCUS, Syria) — There seems to be no end to the brutality the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has unleashed on his own people.
The 11-month crackdown on pro-reform dissidents has been underscored by a week of unrelenting attacks on the country’s third largest city of Homs, one of the flashpoints in the civil war that has earned international condemnation but not much in the way of action to stop it.
Thursday’s death toll, according to an opposition group, topped 140 with reports of at least 10 children among the fatalities.
Through it all, al-Assad has disavowed any responsibility for what’s been occurring, claiming his loyalists are only responding to violence caused by local terrorists and foreign agitators.
While state television has been siding with the government, people on the streets say that army tanks are wantonly firing into buildings and crowds while snipers are picking off anyone who goes to the rescue of those wounded by the attacks.
Since foreign news services can only deliver sparse reports of what’s been going on, it’s estimated that over 6,000 people have died since last March.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio