At Least 38 Dead as Syria Says Troop Withdrawal Began
At least 38 people, half of them civilians, were killed in violence across Syria on Thursday, monitors said, with fierce fighting between regime troops and insurgents in the rebel provinces of Idlib and Homs, as a spokesman for Kofi Annan said the U.N.-Arab League envoy expects both the Syrian government and the opposition to fully implement a ceasefire agreement by April 12.
The violence came despite the arrival in Damascus of a U.N. team dispatched by Annan to pave the way for a possible observer mission in Syria.
In central Homs province, army shelling of the town of Rastan killed four civilians, including two children, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
In Homs city itself, eight regime forces were killed and dozens wounded in fighting with rebel forces on the outskirts of the Deir Baalaba neighborhood, the Britain-based monitoring group said.
Four civilians were also killed in Homs city, including three stabbed by Shabiha pro-regime militia, the Observatory added.
Separately, regime troops backed by tanks stormed Douma, near Damascus, at dawn amid heavy gunfire and shelling.
Clashes between soldiers and rebel forces were reported in various parts of Douma, some 13 kilometers (seven miles) northeast of the capital, with a civilian killed by sniper fire, the Observatory said.
Plumes of smoke could be seen near the city's main mosque as troop reinforcements were sent in.
Two young men were killed in Kfar Sousa, a neighborhood of Damascus early on Thursday when security forces opened fire on their car.
In the embattled northwestern province of Idlib, meanwhile, at least eight civilians were killed, along with six regime forces, the Observatory said.
Clashes were also reported in several towns in nearby Aleppo province, including Andan and Hritan, where messages on loudspeakers urged regime troops to defect and join the opposition.
Five soldiers were killed in two separate attacks there and in southern Daraa, cradle of the revolt that broke out in March last year against President Bashar al-Assad's regime, the Observatory said.
Annan expects both the Syrian government and the opposition to fully implement a ceasefire agreement by April 12, his spokesman said on Thursday.
"What we expect on April 10 is that the Syrian government will have completed its withdrawal from populated centers ... and then we begin a 48-hour period during which there will be a complete cessation of all forms of violence by all parties," Ahmed Fawzi told reporters.
"So the clock starts ticking on the 10th on both sides to cease all forms of violence," he added.
The Syrian regime has told Annan that it has begun withdrawing troops from some parts of the country, said Fawzi, adding that "we are in the process of verification."
An advance team dispatched by Annan to pave the way for peacekeepers arrived in Damascus on Thursday.
They will "begin discussing with the Syrian authorities the modalities of the eventual deployment of this U.N. supervision and monitoring mission," said Fawzi.
The peacekeeping mission would therefore be "ready to move in as soon as we have a Security Council resolution," he added.
Meanwhile, Annan will also travel on April 11 to Tehran, where he is to seek support from the Syrian ally for his peace plan.
The unrest in Syria has left more than 9,000 people dead since mid-March last year, according to U.N. figures.
The revolt against the regime began as a popular uprising but has transformed into an insurgency that many fear will lead to a full-blown civil war.
Source: Agence France Presse
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