(AP) Elizabeth A. Kennedy - Led by defecting army conscripts and Syrians with access to weapons smuggled in through neighboring Iraq, Turkey and Lebanon, once-peaceful Syrian protesters have begun taking up arms to fight back, analysts and witnesses say. They are being aided by Sunni fighters returning from Iraq to their native Syria. "Now these Syrian insurgents are returning to their country to help topple the Assad regime," said Qassim al-Araji, a Shiite member of the Iraqi parliament's defense and security committee. There have been increasing reports of attacks on security forces and police patrols. Mohammed Saleh, an opposition figure in Homs, said he saw a police car riddled with bullets and a burned-out security bus in the city last week. He also said gunmen attacked an army force last week, destroying six armored personnel carriers in Homs.
2011-09-28 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive