Syrian tanks and helicopters stormed the town of Jisr al-Shughour on Sunday, residents said, and state television reported heavy clashes between army troops and gunmen opposed to President Bashar al-Assad.
A senior Turkish diplomat said 4,300 Syrian refugees had crossed the border and were being cared for in hospitals and camps, but a Western diplomat said the number was higher and witnesses said some 10,000 were sheltering near the border. The assault on Jisr al-Shughour, astride a strategic road in northwest Syria, is the latest action by the armed forces to crush demands for political freedom and an end to oppression that pose an unprecedented challenge to Assad’s 11-year rule. Residents said earlier that most civilians had fled the town towards the Turkish border about 20 kms away and tanks and helicopters were shelling and machine-gunning the town.
“Heavy confrontations are raging between army units and members of armed organisations taking up positions in the surroundings of Jisr al-Shughour and inside it,” state television said. Army units defused bombs and explosive charges planted by gunmen on bridges and roads into the town, it said. “Two members of the armed organisations were killed, large numbers of them arrested, and lethal weapons in their possession were seized.” Damascus has banned most foreign correspondents from the country, making it difficult to verify accounts of events. The state news agency said that after entering the town, army units “cleansed the national hospital of armed elements.” A senior Western diplomat in Damascus told Reuters: “The official version is improbable. Most people had left Jisr al-Shughour after seeing the regime’s scorched earth policy, shelling and the heavy use of armour in the valley.”
“The refugee exodus into Turkey is continuing and the numbers are higher than those officially counted so far.” Asked if there were clashes in the town Mustapha, a 39-year-old mason who fled early on Sunday, told Reuters “What clashes? The army is shelling the town from tanks. Everyone has been fleeing. “Even if we we did have guns, what are they going to do in front of artillery? Syria is a tightly controlled dictatorship and all of a sudden the regime says Jisr al-Shughour is armed to the teeth. They are lying. They are punishing us for wanting freedom.” Residents said the army unit was commanded by Assad’s brother Maher and was copying the tactics used in other centres to crush protesters demanding an end to Assad’s autocratic rule.
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