Syria steps up raids in Damascus, 286 held

Backed by tanks, Syrian security forces raided a restive Damascus suburb on Thursday morning, arresting scores of people in a broad campaign that targeted men between the ages of 18 and 50, human rights groups and activists said.

Security forces swept through hundreds of houses in Saqba, a hard-scrabble town on the capital’s outskirts that was the scene of a sprawling demonstration last week against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad, who inherited power from his father, Hafez, in 2000. Human rights groups put the number of arrests there at 286.

Wissam Tarif, executive director of Insan, a human rights group, said at least 800 people were also arrested over the past two days in Tal, another Damascus suburb, and that prominent opposition figure, Walid al-Buni, has been missing for 24 hours.

In all, the group said, as many as 8,000 people have been reported to be in custody or missing since the protests erupted across the country.

“It’s a miserable situation,” said Khalil Maatouk, a Syrian lawyer who has sought to assist the detainees.

The arrests came as Syrian state media announced that the army was withdrawing from Dera’a. With tanks and hundreds of troops, the army entered the town April 25, cutting electricity, water and phone lines in a siege that has prompted solidarity protests in other parts of Syria and even neighboring Jordan.

Residents denied there was any pullback, saying tanks and armoured carriers remained in the town. Some activists questioned what would constitute a withdrawal in a city whose basic infrastructure remains interrupted. ANTHONY SHADID

indianexpress.com

=================================================