The Associated Press is reporting that dozens of security forces and soldiers were gunned down on Monday by suspected defectors from the Syrian Army.
The rebellion is directed against Syrian President Bashar Assad, according to reports from the scene. He has been accused by the United Nations of killing more than 3,500 people in the past eight months
Violence increased after the Arab League voted on Saturday to suspend Syria’s membership, a move supported by President Barack Obama who said the US “will work with our friends and allies to pressure the Assad regime and support the Syrian people as they pursue the dignity and transition to democracy that they deserve.”
Videos posted online show mutilated bodies and victims being beaten by Assad’s loyal forces.
The British-based Syrian Observatory on Human Right’s said “27 civilians were shot dead by security forces while 34 soldiers and 12 suspected army deserters were killed in clashes. Most of the victims were killed in the southern flashpoint province of Daraa.”
Sara A. Carter is The Washington Examiner’s national security correspondent. She can be reached at [email protected].
