Activists: Syria forces storm Hama, 44 killed

PanARMENIAN.Net - Syrian army tanks on Friday, January 27 stormed the city of Hama, a hub for opposition protests against the government, killing at least 44 people, among them women and children, activists said.

“Tanks are attacking the city from four directions. They are firing their heavy machine guns randomly,” DPA quoted activist Abu Omar said by phone over the sound of gun fire in the background.

Scores of people were wounded and blood for transfusions was in short supply in most hospitals across the city. Abu Omar said bodies were lying uncollected in the streets and predicted that the death toll would rise. Electricity and water supplies to the main neighbourhoods had been cut, a tactic used regularly by the military when storming towns to crush protests, he added.

In the northern province of Idlib, a booby-trapped car exploded near an army checkpoint killing at least one soldier and wounding others, activists said.

Activists in other restive areas in Homs, Daraa and Idlib, said mass rallies in support of the people of Hama were taking place.

In the city of Aleppo which experienced relative calm since the protests against president al-Assad started, activists reported that three people were killed when security forces fired at protesters in the Marhej neighbourhood.

More than 5,400 people have been killed in Syria since the pro-democracy uprising erupted in mid-March, according to the United Nations. However, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said the world body could not keep track of the death toll in Syria due to an escalation of the violence.