The Syrian army is about to complete a military operation on the outskirts of the country’s third largest city, an official army source told RIA Novosti.
An operation in the central Syrian city of Homs, a hotspot of the ongoing popular uprising, began on Monday.
According to official reports, several “terrorists” were killed or injured and dozens of “wanted persons” were arrested during the operation. The troops are currently “hunting down the remains of terrorist groups,” the source said.
A report on a Syrian TV channel said Tuesday’s operation “went on quite calmly.”
“Law enforcers rarely had to shoot, and only in self-defense,” the report said.
Bouthaina Shaaban, an adviser and spokeswoman to Syrian President Bashar Assad, earlier told The New York Times that “the end of the story” is near.
Up to 800 people are believed to have been killed since pro-democracy protests against the repressive rule of President Bashar al-Assad began in mid-March.
Hundreds of protestors were arrested by security forces in house-to-house raids on Monday Homs, the coastal town of Baniya, the capital Damascus, and the southern city of Deraa as a government crackdown on dissent continued this week.
DAMASCUS, May 11 (RIA Novosti)