Syrian armed forces killed dozens of "terrorists" on Wednesday near the Damascus suburb of Daraya, state media said, an area where activists have reported air strikes on rebels and two days of heavy fighting.
"Units of our noble armed forces killed dozens of terrorists in the orchards of eastern Daraya in rural Damascus and liberated dozens of citizens, most of them women and children who had been held by the terrorists as human shields," the official SANA news agency said.
MiG fighter jets hit the suburb of Daraya, situated amid farmland near the main southern highway, where rebels have been battling elite Republican Guard units that have deployed around the town, a major opposition center of the 20-month revolt.
The pro-government al-Ekhbariya television said the army had begun a campaign to "cleanse" Daraya from what it described as terrorists and showed troops on the edge the town, where activists reported 23 people killed in the last two days.
Earlier, several died
while others were injured when a shell crashed last night in the Abu Rumanna
neighborhood, northeast Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
reported.
According to pro-government
Al-Watan Daily the attack occurred when "a mortar shell fell near the Madfaa garden in the district
of Abu Rummaneh, causing casualties." It did not elaborate on the number
of victims.
Positions:
Damascus has blasted the European Union for recognizing the newly formed Syrian opposition coalition as a legitimate voice of the Syrian people.
State-run daily
Al-Thawra newspaper derided the coalition formed earlier this month as a "deformed newborn baby".
A front-page editorial Wednesday in the paper which is a government mouthpiece said that all possible "cosmetic surgeries do not bode well for the evolution of this monster.
EU's 27 foreign ministers recognized the Syrian coalition during their monthly meeting this week. The National Coalition of the Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces was formed Nov. 11 in Qatar.
Meanwhile, the head of the Syrian National Council George Sabra said from
Dubai that the opposition is in need of $60 Billion after the collapse of the
current regime to prevent any economic crisis.
This as, Turkey has asked NATO to
deploy Patriot missiles on its territory, the alliance said on Wednesday, to
help it defend itself against any Syrian attacks.
"Such a deployment would
augment Turkey's air defence capabilities to defend the population and
territory of Turkey," NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in
a statement.
"It would contribute to the
de-escalation of the crisis along NATO's south-eastern border," he added.
Rasmussen said the alliance would
discuss the request "without delay".
In this context, the Dutch government said it was considering a request
from Turkey to send NATO Patriot missiles to the border with Syria.
"The government will take the request into consideration and examine the
desirability and possibility of a contribution. Allied solidarity will
be an important consideration," the Dutch government said in a
statement.
Although the deployment would be
for defensive purposes only, it nonetheless marked a hardening in the foreign
opposition to Assad.
Earlier on Tuesday, Britain
officially recognized the fledgling Syrian National Coalition opposition group,
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a statement.
LBCI\ AP\ REUTERS