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May 11, 2011

Syrian Forces Shell Residential Areas 
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Syrian forces have launched new attacks on residential areas known to be
flashpoints for the ongoing protests against President Bashar al-Assad.
Witnesses say Syrian tanks shelled neighborhoods in the town of Homs
after residents protested earlier government attacks that killed three
people. The Syrian military is reportedly conducting house-to-house
raids searching for people whose names appear on a government list.
Human rights activists say communication lines have been cut and
checkpoints have been used to seal off communities. Speaking to the New
York Times, Rami Makhlouf—a powerful cousin of Assad's and a wealthy
tycoon in Syria—vowed to crush the protests, saying: "We call it a
fight until the end ... They should know when we suffer, we will not
suffer alone." More than 700 people are believed to have been killed and
some 9,000 arrested in the Assad regime's crackdown.



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