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Raisethefist.com: UN observers enter captured town of Haffa
UN observers enter captured town of Haffa
by anonymous Thu Jun 14 19:14:02 PDT 2012
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A TEAM of UN observers has entered the Syrian town of Haffa after government troops seized it from rebels after battles that raged for eight days.
The visit today came hours after a suicide bomber detonated a van packed with explosives in a Damascus suburb, wounding 14 people and damaging one of Shiite Islam's holiest shrines, according to Syria's state-run news agency and witnesses.
Witnesses travelling with the observers in Haffa described scenes of heavy fighting and destruction, including burned-out state buildings and a corpse in a deserted street.
The observers had been trying to get into the town in the coastal Latakia province for a week after fears were raised that a brutal assault by regime forces was under way there.
The mountain enclave has been the site of intense clashes between government forces and hundreds of rebels.
On Tuesday, an angry crowd hurled rocks and sticks at the UN mission's vehicles near Haffa, forcing them to turn back.
Authorities then said they had "cleansed" the area of "armed terrorist groups" and urged UN observers to immediately head there "to check what the terrorist groups have done".
The observers stopped by torched buildings belonging to the ruling Baath party's local branch as well as the burned courthouse, post office and other government institutions, according to the witnesses.
UN observers have reported a steep rise in violence and a dangerous shift in tactics by both sides in Syria in recent weeks.
Car bombs and suicide bombings have become increasingly common in Syria as the 15-month uprising against President Bashar Assad becomes increasingly militarised. Most have targeted security buildings and police buses, symbols of Assad's regime.
It was not immediately clear whether today's bomber in the Sayyda Zainab suburb of Damascus intended to target the Shiite shrine or a police station that was only 15 metres away.
As the violence grows more chaotic, it is difficult to assign blame for much of the bloodshed. Western officials say there is little doubt that Islamist extremists, some associated with al-Qaeda, have made inroads in Syria as instability has spread.
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