By Khaled Yacoub Oweis, Daily Star, Beirut
A view shows the smoke rising in the city of Hama in this still image taken from video Sunday. Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2011/Jul-31/Syrian-tanks-storm-Hama-24-dead-doctor.ashx#ixzz1ThUAumA9 (The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)
AMMAN: Syrian tanks firing shells and machineguns stormed the city of Hama on Sunday, killing at least 45 civilians in a move to crush demonstrations against President Bashar al-Assad’s rule, residents and activists said.
Assad’s forces began their assault on the city, scene of a 1982 massacre, at dawn after besieging it for nearly a month. The state news agency said the military entered Hama to cleanse it of armed groups “shooting intensively to terrorize citizens”.
A U.S. embassy official dismissed the official account, saying Syrian authorities had begun a war against their own people by attacking Hama. Britain and France, which had led European overtures toward Assad, also condemned the assault.
Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2011/Jul-31/Syrian-tanks-storm-Hama-24-dead-doctor.ashx#ixzz1ThTUc8Pl
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)