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    December 21, 2011

Activists Say More Than 100 Civilians Killed by Syrian Troops

   VOA News

   Syrian rights activists say government troops killed more than 100
   civilians and dozens of army defectors Tuesday, in one of the deadliest
   days since an anti-government uprising began in March.
   The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Wednesday
   that government troops killed 111 people after surrounding civilians in
   Kafruwed, a village in the northwestern province of Idlib.
   The reported attack Tuesday came as foreign observers prepare to enter
   Syria in an effort to end the nine months of bloody unrest.
   Witnesses also told the Observatory that troops besieged a group of
   army deserters in Idlib, killing or wounding as many as 100. Civilian
   deaths were reported in other areas as well.
   The Observatory's claims could not be independently confirmed because
   Syria has restricted foreign journalists in the country.
   Arab League officials say an advance team will arrive in Syria Thursday
   to prepare for the observer mission, which will eventually involve
   hundreds of monitors. The team will include security, legal and human
   rights experts.
   Syria agreed to allow the observers into the country under global
   pressure to stop the bloody crackdown on anti-government protesters.
   Critics have said the move is a stalling tactic. Ian Lustick, a Mideast
   analyst with the University of Pennsylvania, told VOA that similar
   scenarios have played out in other countries in the region, and that he
   doubts the observer mission will occur as planned.
   "We can welcome it, but look at all the times we've seen in Yemen and
   elsewhere where leaders made agreements and then signed them, or signed
   them and then backed out to gain a little time to try to see if the
   next day or two would open new opportunities - if the other side would
   make some kind of mistake," said Lustick. "So I actually would be very
   surprised, frankly, if those hundreds of observers were allowed to
   enter Syria, and even more surprised if they were allowed actually to
   go outside Aleppo and Damascus to the areas where this violence is
   occurring."
   U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland says the Arab League
   monitors will be crucial to monitor the protection of innocent
   civilians and to give the world an accurate picture of what is going on
   in Syria.
   The United Nations says at least 5,000 people have been killed during
   the nine-month uprising against the government of President Bashar
   al-Assad. Syrian authorities blame the violence on "armed terrorist
   groups."

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.
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