Syrian government continues brutal crackdown

The besieged people of Daraa braved sniper fire to pull the bullet-riddled bodies of their dead from the streets today.

A day after a brutal government crackdown on the southern Syrian city heavy gunfire continued to reverberate.

The army onslaught was part of the relentless crackdown on anti-government protesters which since mid-March has killed more than 400 people.

President Bashar Assad’s army, backed by tanks and snipers, launched a deadly raid before dawn yesterday on Daraa, where the uprising started more than a month ago, and the towns of Douma and Jableh. At least 22 people were killed in Daraa.

World leaders expressed concern at the mounting bloodshed, with the United States starting to draw up sanctions against Assad, diplomats hoping to send a strong signal to Damascus from the United Nations, and the prime minister of neighbouring Turkey telephoning the Syrian leader to urge restraint.

The assault on Daraa appeared to be part of new strategy of crippling, pre-emptive action against any opposition to Assad, rather than reacting to demonstrations.

It took more than a day for residents to start taking many of the bodies off the streets, with rooftop snipers and army forces firing on those who dared to leave their homes.

One man, Zaher Ahmad Ayyash, was killed as he tried to retrieve the bodies of two brothers, Taysir and Yaser al-Akrad, said a resident, who asked to be identified only as Abdullah for fear of reprisal.

The corpses were hidden away after they were retrieved Abdullah said, suggesting that residents might face reprisals if troops discovered they had taken them As he spoke on the phone, gunfire popped in the background.

“We can’t bury the dead in the cemetery because it’s occupied by Syrian soldiers,” said Abdullah.

“We are waiting to find another place to bury them.”

Snipers also targeted water tanks on roofs in southern Daraa – the last source of water for many desperate residents.

Even as the military crackdown intensified, Abdullah said there was quiet, defiant resistance. He said some soldiers were disobeying orders and allowing residents to pass through military checkpoints.

Palestinian refugees – generally at the bottom of Syrian society – smuggled flour, water, bread and canned food into town.

“We owe them our thanks, we are so grateful to them,” the resident said.

Earlier in the day, another resident said Syrian special forces were in the streets and tanks had opened.

“We are being subjected to a massacre,” another resident screamed over the phone above the sound of gunfire. “We have been without electricity for three days. We have no water.”

Syria has banned nearly all foreign media and restricted access to trouble spots since the uprising began, making it almost impossible to verify the dramatic events shaking one of the most authoritarian, anti-Western regimes in the Arab world.

In Douma, which saw an intense raid yesterday, houses were raided again at dawn , with forces detaining anyone suspected of participating in demonstrations.

The streets were almost empty, with schools and most shops closed. There was an intense security presence, with agents at checkpoints asking people for their identity cards.

In the seaside city of Banias, divided between Sunni Muslims and Alawites – the sect of the ruling Assad family and many key officials – thousands of men and women gathered in the streets for a demonstration.

Life was almost back to normal in the central city of Homs, except for intense security.

Daraa, located in a parched region of 300,000 people in the south, has seen some of the worst bloodshed in the past five weeks as the uprising gained momentum. Recently, the city has absorbed many rural migrants who can no longer farm after years of drought.

Meanwhile the United States told all its non-essential staff and the families of all its embassy workers to leave the country, but kept the facility open for limited services. It also advised all Americans to defer travel to Syria and advised those already in the country to leave.

Syria has a pivotal role in most of the flashpoint issues of the Middle East - from the Arab-Israeli peace process to Iran’s widening influence. Instability has thrown into disarray the US push for engagement with Damascus, part of Washington’s hopes to peel the country away from Hamas, Hezbollah and Tehran.