Civilians Flee Another Northern Syria Town, Fearing Vengeful Military Assault
Hundreds fled a town in northern Syria on Wednesday that appeared to be the next target of a military seeking to crush a three-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, activists said, joining thousands already displaced in a growing humanitarian crisis that has embarrassed the Syrian government.
In a succession of often bloody operations, the Syrian military has dispatched tanks and soldiers to the country’s most restive locales. This week, forces were deployed to eastern Syria, a region knit by extended clans that borders Iraq, as well as Ma’arat al-Noaman, a town on the highway from Damascus to Aleppo, Syria’s second-largest city.