8 law-enforcement members killed in Syria
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Xinhua, August 1, 2011
About eight members of the law-enforcement forces were killed by "armed terrorist groups" in the central province of Hama, Syria's Ministry of Interior said late Sunday.
Armed groups started at dawn Sunday their operations against official and security centers in Hama in an attempt to kill and kidnap its members, the ministry said in a statement carried by the state TV, adding that the gunmen also opened fire randomly in Hama to threaten local residents.
Law-enforcement members had confronted these groups to protect the lives of innocent people and to preserve private and public properties, it said.
The clashes left eight members of law-enforcement forces and several gunmen killed, the statement added.
The ministry said that the authorities would hunt down those groups to bring them to justice, pledging to restore security and stability to the city.
Meanwhile, a military source denied that tanks entered Hama as some media reports had said.
In a statement aired at Sunday midnight by the state TV, the unnamed source said that armed groups in Hama had cut off main and sub-roads leading to the city.
Gunmen attacked the migration office, set ablaze a number of cars, and torched a police headquarter in Hama, the source added.
On the same day, activists said at least 79 people were killed when the security forces cracked down on hotbeds cities of protests before the Muslims holy month of Ramadan starts on Monday.
Some opposition parties recently said that they would demonstrate daily during Ramadan to increase pressure on the government.
U.S. President Barack Obama called the reports from Syria " horrifying" and said Assad is "completely incapable and unwilling" to respond to the legitimate grievances of the Syrian people.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the attacks were " all the more shocking" on the Ramadan's eve and appeared to be part of a coordinated effort to put off Syrians from protesting during the holy month.
Syria blames the five months of unrest on armed gangs and extremists backed by a foreign conspiracy that aim to sow a sectarian rift in the country.
Syrian President Bashar Assad said Sunday that he is ultimately confident that Syria will undermine "this new chapter of conspiracy" which he said aims at "dividing the country as a prelude for dividing the entire region to conflicting states."
Assad reasserted that his country is subject to sectarian sedition, but indicated that the Syrian people were aware to what is being intrigued against them and were able to "bury sedition."
