http://www.smh.com.au/world/army-cleans-away-rebels-20120721-22gsz.html
Army 'cleans' away rebels Date July 22, 2012 In force … Syrian soldiers in the Midan area of Damascus. Photo: AFP THE Syrian military escorted journalists in armoured personnel carriers into Midan in the south of Damascus after saying that it had ''cleaned'' the district of rebel fighters. In Assakhane Square, one reporter saw three rebels sprawled lifeless alongside a pick-up truck mounted with a heavy machinegun. The military said the square had been the site of fierce fighting, and thick black smoke still billowed from several apartments that had been completely destroyed. The silence was broken only by the crackle of intermittent gunfire. ''There are still some snipers,'' a soldier said. ''We will remove them.'' Rebel slogans were still scrawled across the walls of several buildings. ''Protect the revolutionary Midan! We will not kneel!'' In apartments that had been occupied by rebels, holes were gouged through interior walls so they could move from house to house, avoiding the dangers of the open street and snipers. The smell of spent powder filled the air, and a minaret at the neighbourhood's Al Majid mosque had been pierced by a shell. At a nearby grocery stall, potatoes, tomatoes and onions rotted under the hot sun, and ransacked stores suggested traders had fled in panic with no time to even close their shops. The facades of several buildings were riddled with bullets or had been shattered by shellfire. There was no sign of any civilians in Midan, just some soldiers still wearing helmets and flak jackets as they lounged at a local barber's shop. One soldier said the elite Republican Guard led the assault on the neighbourhood traditionally popular for selling sweets during Ramadan. State television had announced earlier on Friday that regime forces had ''cleaned'' the Midan area. One officer said on television that ''armed elements entered neighbourhoods and attacked the residents, who begged us to rescue them''. An opposition activist said: ''The Free Syrian Army pulled out of Midan at dawn because of fierce bombardment.'' Agence France-Presse Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/army-cleans-away-rebels-20120721-22gsz.html#ixzz21Hs22ctX [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
