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Assad Forces Retake Damascus Suburbs |
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Monday, 30 January 2012Syrian government forces are reported to have retaken control of eastern suburbs of the capital from opposition fighters.
Government troops had been battling rebels from the Free Syrian Army in the Ghouta area of Damascus for two days.
The fighting was the closest to the Syrian capital since street protests erupted in March amid Arab Spring uprisings in a number of North African and Middle Eastern countries.
On January 29, dozens of tanks and armored vehicles carrying Syrian troops were reported to have moved into the Ghouta region.
Activists say some 60 people were killed in violence across Syria the same day.
The increasing violence prompted the Arab League to suspend its monitor mission there on January 28.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was "concerned" about the Arab League's decision and called on Assad to "immediately stop the bloodshed."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized the Arab League's decision, saying Moscow would instead support increasing the number of monitors inside Syria.
The United Nations says at least 5,400 people have been killed in 10 months of violence but that it is not confident it can keep up with the death toll in Syria, which maintains tight control of media. |
Monday, 30 January 2012
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