Basher Assad has evidently decided to go for broke in destroying the uprising against the regime in Syria.
He sent the Syrian army in Deraa back up by heavy armor to attack what he referred to as 'the hub' of the revolt. At least 40 people were killed and probably twice that amount wounded, although real numbers are difficult to pin down since Assad has banned most foreign media from the country and restricted access to the actual conflict since the uprising began.
The fighting included an attack on the Omari Mosque, and the mosque loudspeakers were used to try and summon help for the wounded, whose bodies could not be reached by the protesters because of the fierce gunfire. Aside from army tanks taking aim at people and houses, snipers were positioned on rooftops.
Deraa may very well end up becoming to Basher Assad what Hama was to his father in 1982 - the site of a mass killing used as an example to break the back of the Syrian revolt. The regime has reportedly also cut off electricity and telephone service to Deraa, although some reports are still getting through via cell phone.
According to another report by an eyewitness, busloads of Assad's security thugs and army troops are conducting house-to-house searches, looking for 'people of interest' and causing panic in the streets of Deraa, a city of 300,000 people.
"They are entering houses, they are searching the houses," he said. "They are carrying knives and guns."
Other attacks by the army and sweeping arrests were reported on the outskirts of Damascus and the coastal town of Jabla, where at least 13 people were reported to have been killed.
According to what an anonymous UN Security Council diplomat told the BBC, the UK and other European states are circulating a draft statement condemning the violence in Syria. Assuming they even manage to get it through the Muslim bloc in the UN, I'm sure Basher Assad is absolutely petrified with fear at the thought of the UN's displeasure.
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