Monday, June 6, 2011

An Unusual Massacre in Syria

A Yahoo/AP report says that Syrian strongman Bashir Assad had even more blood on his hands. Approximately 120 Syrian security personnel, maybe more, have been killed by military forces. It is speculated that they were trying to escape into Turkey from Jisr al-Shughour. Perhaps they felt guilty about having to kill innocent civilians just because they joined in the protests against the Assad regime.

UPDATE1: An article in the Economist illustrates how difficult it is to get accurate information from a closed society such as Syria. The Assad regime may have exaggerated the number of security force members killed, and blamed their deaths on insurgents. What we do know is that about 150 unarmed civilians lost their lives in nationwide protests from Friday to Sunday, and that the Turks have turned away many Syrian refugees at the border. If they crossed over into Turkey in large numbers, the government there would label these Arabs a troublesome minority like the Kurds and Armenians.

UPDATE2: An article in the Daily Mail (U.K.) reports that the Turkish government has relented and allowed not less than 450 Syrian refugees fleeing for their lives, mostly from Jisr al-Shughour.

No comments: