Syrian troops raid homes, detain residents
Syrian troops stormed a flashpoint suburb of Damascus on Thursday, rounding people up in house-to-house raids and clashing with army defectors, activists said, as the 10-month-old uprising inches ever closer to the capital.
Even as the fighting raged in Douma, tens of thousands of backers of President Bashar Assad poured into the streets just 10 miles away in downtown Damascus in a show of support for his embattled regime. Similar pro-regime rallies were held in other cities Thursday.
The offensive against Douma came two days after Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said his government will continue with the “security solution” to end the crisis.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 200 people were detained Thursday in Douma.
LIBYA: Some Gadhafi-era abuses remain.
Torture and death in detention have become widespread problems in post-war Libya, international humanitarian groups said Thursday, a troubling indication that some Gadhafi-era abuses continue under the fractured rule of the country’s post-war interim government and regionally organized militias.
Amnesty International said in a statement that “several” people had been tortured to death in detention “by officially recognized military and security entities as well as by a multitude of armed militias.”
The majority of victims were Libyans believed to have remained loyal to the government of Moammar Gadhafi during the nine-month conflict that led to his ouster, but some were sub-Saharan Africans.
MALI: Rebels launch first attack since 2009.
The first thing the Malian soldiers heard at daybreak were cries of “Allah Akbar” — “God is great” — ringing out over their camp in a lonely eastern town. Then shooting began as Tuareg rebels launched their first attack against the military in Mali since 2009. Many Tuareg fighters have returned to Mali since the fall of their patron, Moammar Gadhafi, bringing battle experience and weapons with them. Some are ready to fight for their dream of a homeland for the Tuareg and have begun doing so, re-igniting a conflict that had been dormant for more than two years.
Denver Post wire services
