Damascus: Syrian army defectors attacked a military intelligence base on Wednesday in one of the most daring raids in eight months of unrest as Arab ministers gathered in Rabat to ramp up the pressure on the regime.
Arab foreign ministers, who were also to hold talks with their Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu, were due to discuss the implementation of a raft of sanctions adopted against Bashar al-Assad’s regime on Saturday, including its suspension from the Arab League.
The early morning raid on the air force intelligence base just outside Damascus was among the most spectacular carried out by the growing number of deserters from Assad’s largely conscript armed forces who have refused orders to open fire on civilian protesters.
The unprecedented movement against Assad’s 11-year rule has been spearheaded by peaceful demonstrators but in recent months the deserters have organised themselves into a Free Syrian Army which has inflicted growing losses on the regular armed forces.
Activists, who illustrated the three-pronged attack in a plan attached to their statement, said prisoners being detained at the intelligence branch “were well” but the operation failed to secure their release. (PTI)
