Syrian Army Attacks Latakia скачать в хорошем качестве

Syrian Army Attacks Latakia

Air strikes by the Syrian military have killed at least 20 people in the northwestern province of Latakia overnight, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The attacks are seen as an effort by President Bashar al-Assad to prevent armed rebels fighting him from advancing on communities in the stronghold region of his Alawite sect. "The toll in several air strikes on the town of Salma in Jabal Akrad rose to at least 20 people," Rami Abdel Rahman, the London-based watchdog group's director, told AFP news agency on Saturday. He said that 10 of those killed were believed to be civilians, although many of the bodies were so badly disfigured that it was not immediately possible to identify them. At least six of those killed were Syrian rebel fighters, while four were foreign volunteers, he said. "The number of deaths is expected to rise because of the number of wounded and those in serious condition among them." Al Jazeera cannot independently verify Abdel-Rahman's account of the Latakia violence. 'Army hitting back' In recent days, rebel forces have captured a number of villages in Jabal Akrad, a mountainous district in the north of Latakia. Assad's army has hit back, prompting fierce fighting that has left dozens dead on both sides, according to the Syrian Observatory. Assad has deployed extra forces in the region and the air raids reflected an urgent priority to protect the main region of his Alawite sect, who account for 12 percent of Syria's 21 million people. The Syrian Observatory also said that government troops stormed a village overnight, killing 12 people in Aleppo province. In other violent incidents, fierce fighting erupted during the night between government troops and rebels in the Barzeh neighbourhood of Damascus, the group said, adding that the army shelled both Barzeh and the Jubar districts of the Syrian capital. The regime controls much of southern and central Syria, while fighters hold northern areas near the Turkish border and along the Euphrates valley towards Iraq. The northeast corner of the country is now an increasingly in Kurdish control.