Ignoring Arab League Deal, Syria continues killing protestors
Syrian tanks mounted with machine-guns fired on a city at the center of the country’s uprising Thursday, defying a day-old agreement between the Syrian government and the Arab League to end nearly eight months of bloodshed, activists said.
At least nine people were killed in the tank fire and other violence in Homs, according to two main Syrian activist groups. A crackdown on dissent and what appears to be growing sectarian bloodshed has turned Homs, Syria’s third-largest city and home to some 800,000 people, into one of the country’s deadliest areas.
The opposition vowed to flood the streets Friday to test whether the regime will stop using force against peaceful protesters.
“May Friday be the day where all streets and squares become platforms for demonstrations, and for the peaceful struggle toward achieving the downfall of the regime,” said a Syrian activist coalition called the Local Coordinating Committees.