Syria says Latakia crackdown ended

Aug 17, 2011, 6:56 GMT

Cairo/Damascus - The Syrian Interior Ministry announced Wednesday that armed units were withdrawing from the port city of Latakia after quelling what it described as armed terrorist groups, state-run news Agency SANA reported.

Brigadier General Mohammad Hassan al-Ali said the army units began moving out of the al-Ramel district of Latakia after completing their 'mission.'

'The neighbourhood is recovering and citizens are going about their normal life, which was spoiled by the acts of the terrorist groups,' the army commander said.

State Syrian television reported Wednesday that law-enforcement forces were continuing to remove barriers and roadblocks set up by 'armed terrorist groups' along the crossroads and alleys of al-Ramel.

One witness told broadcaster Al Jazeera that army troops and tanks were still stationed in Latakia.

At least 34 people have been killed in Latakia since Saturday, when the Syrian government began a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in the city.

A Palestinian refugee camp in al-Ramel also came under fire by security forces, prompting almost half the residents of the camp to flee, human rights advocates said.

Syrian television reported that forces had arrested a number of gunmen and dismantled bombs and mines planted by the 'armed terrorist groups' in the streets of al-Ramel.

Four civilians were killed by security forces during raids in Latakia, as well as in the central city of Homs and in Idlib, near the border with Turkey, according to the Federation of Coordination Committees of the Syrian Revolution.

The opposition group added that 10 people had been injured when security forces fired indiscriminately in the city of Al-Qusayr, near Homs.

Security forces rounded up dozens of activists and pro-democracy protesters in several areas of the capital Damascus, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

'Large security forces carried out a crackdown on houses early Wednesday in the district of Rukn al-Din in Damascus and arrested scores of activists and demonstrators,' the observatory said in a statement.

Anti-government protesters have been holding daily demonstrations since the Muslim holy month of Ramadan began on August 1.

At least 1,837 civilians and 416 security personnel have been killed since mid-March, when demonstrations for the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad began, according to human rights groups.

Such reports cannot be independently verified, as the Syrian authorities have barred most foreign media and international human rights groups from the country.