Syrian activists say up to 1,300 civilians killed as 6,800 refugees cross to Turkey

The main Syrian activist group organizing protests said the crackdown on activists demanding democratic freedoms and an end to oppression has killed 1,300 civilians since February as more than 6,800 Syrian refugees crossed into Turkey within the past few days.

The group urged the importance of handing power to the Syrian army and called for creating a new constitution within six months, in order to avoid further unrest and chaos. Human rights groups had previously had put the death toll at about 1,100.

“We shall not accept giving an opportunity to leave Syria hostage to such an irresponsible regime,” the group said in a statement, according to Agence-France Presse.

Syrian troops backed by helicopters and tanks, meanwhile, took control of the northwestern town of Jisr Al Shughour as President Bashar Al Assad continued his crackdown against dissidents challenging his 11-year rule.

Thousands of residents of the town of 50,000 people, located on a vital road junction, fled to Turkey, about 20 km (12 miles) away, before Sunday’s assault, leaving much of the town deserted, according to Reuters.

A man identifying himself as a Syrian army defector, whose comments were streamed on the Internet and translated by Britain’s Sky News television, said anti-government forces had set traps to delay the advance by Syrian troops, to let people escape.

“We waited to get about 10 percent of the population out. The remaining 90 percent had already managed to leave,” the man, identifying himself as Lieutenant-Colonel Hussein Harmoush, told the online Ugarit News video news channel.

“At the moment Jisr Al Shughour is totally devoid of civilians. We are the only people that remain here.”

The number of refugees crossing into Turkey has spiked in the last 24 hours, bringing the number of people who have fled the security crackdown in Syria to more than 6,800, a report said Monday.

The latest count amounted to 6,817, up from 5,051 on Sunday, Turkey’s Anatolia news agency reported.

The refugees are sheltered in two tent villages set up by the Turkish Red Crescent in Hatay. Two more are under construction in the region that could host another 9,000, according to AFP.

After crossing the border, they are escorted by Turkish police either to area hospitals or to one of the tent villages.

A field hospital has been set up in the first and largest of the camps, in Yagladadi, to provide emergency care.

Witnesses said some 10,000 Syrians were sheltering near the border and residents said most of Jisr Al Shughour’s population had fled the town.

The government said last week that “armed gangs” had killed more than 120 security personnel in the town after large demonstrations there.

Refugees and rights groups said the dead were civilians killed by security forces or soldiers who had been shot for refusing to fire on civilians. It was also possible the troops were killed by rebelling soldiers.

Syria, a country of 23 million, has banned most foreign correspondents, making it difficult to verify accounts of events.

The government says the protests are part of a violent conspiracy backed by foreign powers to sow sectarian strife.

“Units of the Syrian Arab Army have taken total control of Jisr Al Shughour and are chasing remnants of the armed terrorist gangs in the woods and mountains,” the Syrian news agency said.

It said one soldier and two armed men had been killed in clashes around the town, and that that army units had defused explosives planted on bridges and roads.

Leading opposition figure Walid Al Bunni told Reuters by phone from Damascus the military attack was a pyrrhic victory.

“I feel ashamed as a Syrian that the authorities are taking pride in occupying their own villages and towns and that repression is making people destitute and driving proud soldiers to take refuge in Turkey,” Mr. Bunni said.

“The Syrian people have gone out in the street demanding their freedom and they will not leave until we get it. We saw how in Deraa when the army left the city for hours thousands were back in the streets,” Mr. Bunni said.

He was referring to the southern city where a protest demanding President Assad quit erupted again on Friday. The cradle of the uprising, Deraa was also the first city assaulted in a military build-up to and crush the protests.

Rights activists told AFP by telephone that the army had bombarded Jisr Al Shughur before entering the town, which was largely deserted after thousands of people fled ahead of the expected onslaught.

“The army started at about 7:00 am (0400 GMT) to shell the town intensively with tanks and heavy weaponry before launching an assault from the east and south,” one activist said.

“Explosions were heard and helicopter gunships patrolled over the city.”

The Syrian news agency said government forces had uncovered mass graves containing mostly mutilated bodies of 10 security men killed and buried by armed groups in Jisr Al Shughour.

A senior Western diplomat in Damascus told Reuters: “The official version is improbable. Most people had left Jisr Al Shughour after seeing the regime’s scorched-earth policy, shelling and the heavy use of armor in the valley.”

“The refugee exodus into Turkey is continuing and the numbers are higher than those officially counted so far.”

Residents said the army unit attacking Jisr Al Shughour was commanded by Mr. Assad’s brother Maher and employed the same tactics used to crush protests in other areas.

The United States has accused the Syrian government of creating a “humanitarian crisis” and urged it to halt its offensive and allow immediate access by the International Committee for the Red Cross to help refugees, detainees and the wounded.

The latest harrowing accounts have sparked fresh international outrage with the United Nations, the United States and the European Union all urging Mr. Assad to end the violence.

Both the EU and the US are backing a UN Security Council resolution proposed by Britain and France that condemns Syria for its crackdown.

“The dangerous situation makes a clear reaction from the UN Security Council all the more urgent,” German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, whose country currently holds a non-permanent seat on the council, said in a statement, according to AFP.

But Russia and China, both veto-wielding council members, oppose any such resolution.

Damascus blames the unrest on “armed terrorist gangs” backed by Islamists and foreign agitators.

It is not possible to verify the accounts as foreign journalists are not allowed to circulate freely in Syria.

(Abeer Tayel, a senior editor at Al Arabiya English, can be reached at: [email protected])