Syrian deserters seize town of Douma northeast of Damascus, scores killed

Saturday, 21 January 2012

Pro-government Syrian police faces protesters during demonstrations against Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad in Douma Dec.30, 2011. (Reuters)

By Al Arabiya with Agencies

Syrian army deserters on Saturday seized the town of Douma just northeast of Damascus after fierce fighting, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement, as escalated violence throughout the country killed left 94 people dead, including 60 from the town of Idlib alone.

“Groups of deserters took control of all districts in the town of Douma, near Damascus, after fierce fighting on Saturday with Syrian security forces,” the Observatory's chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP, citing militants there.

The latest development came amid intensified violence across the country with the Revolution’s General Commission reporting the death of 94 people, 60 of them were found in Idlib hospital morgue.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights earlier reported that an explosion killed at least 14 people and injured 32 on a minibus carrying prisoners in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib.

“Eleven prisoners were killed in the explosion which targeted a prison truck on the road between Idlib town and the village of Mastumeh,” The Syrian Observatory’s chairman, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP by telephone. 

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