Middle East, Syria | featured news

The Syrian military launched an offensive to regain control of suburbs on the eastern edge of Damascus Sunday, storming neighborhoods and clashing with groups of army defectors in fierce fighting that sent residents fleeing and killed at least three civilians, activists said.

A Syrian rebel army chief urged the world Tuesday to protect civilians in Syria, as a group of embattled rebel fighters tried to hold onto a once-relaxed Syrian hill resort that has become a hub of revolt against President Bashar Assad's rule.

In his first national address since June, Syrian President Bashar Assad on Tuesday blamed a nearly 10-month uprising in his nation on unspecified "foreign conspiracies" and vowed to strike "with an iron fist" against opponents he labeled terrorists.

Syrian security forces shot dead at least five people in Hama on Friday, according to a rights group, as hundreds of thousands staged protests across the country.

It all began with a slap and a slur hurled at a poor vegetable seller by a policewoman in a provincial Tunisian city. Mohamed Bouazizi set himself alight in a protest that ignited a chain of fires across the Arab world.

Syria's leading opposition movement warned Friday of an impending government "massacre" designed to crush activists in the city of Homs, a metropolis that has emerged as a center of anti-regime unrest.

Syria is now in a state of civil war with more than 4,000 dead and increasing numbers of defecting soldiers taking up arms against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, the top United Nations human rights official said on Thursday.

A U.N. investigation released Monday accused Syrian forces of killing and torturing children and other crimes against humanity.

The Arab League has approved sanctions against Syria to pressure the regime to end its deadly eight-month crackdown on dissent.

"They're asking for RPGs (rocket propelled grenades) in al Bayadah," said the young fighter, naming another district in Homs. "Assad's armoured vehicles are coming and they have nothing to stop them." "Give them five or six of ours. God willing we will find some more," replied the man in charge, sitting cross-legged on the floor.