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More than 40 Dead in Surge of Violence in Syria

(Washington Post) Liz Sly - More than 30 civilians and as many as a dozen soldiers were killed Monday in Syria, most of them in Homs, a city that is rapidly emerging as the epicenter of armed resistance to the Assad government. Residents and activists said a group of Syrian soldiers defected from their army unit, a move that triggered clashes with regime loyalists and, later, a heavy tank bombardment of several city neighborhoods where the defected soldiers are believed to be taking refuge. In recent weeks, there have been increasing reports of defections from the army. An attack by defectors on a Syrian army checkpoint in the town of Qusair near the Lebanese border killed seven soldiers. The LCC, a group that monitors and organizes anti-government protests, said 25 doctors and pharmacists had been detained in recent weeks because they had provided medical treatment to protesters injured at demonstrations. The human rights advocacy group Avaaz said it had identified 57 patients who had been detained by the security forces from their beds in hospitals in the towns of Homs and Latakia. In addition, it said, the government-sponsored militias known as Shabiha have used Red Crescent ambulances to shoot at demonstrators.
2011-10-19 00:00:00
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