Syrian army launches attacks ahead of ceasefire

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian troops launched assaults on several towns across the country on Thursday, activists said. The offensives appeared to be a push by President Bashar Assad’s forces to make gains on the ground ahead of a cease-fire next week.

Israel Radio reported that according to opposition sources over 100 people were killed in fighting on Wednesday despite regime claims that the army is withdrawing from come cities.

On Thursday Turkish officials reported that 9000 refugees had crossed the border from Syria and into Turkey.

The latest violence comes despite Assad’s agreement to implement the cease-fire starting Tuesday. The truce is the keystone of a plan put forward by Kofi Annan, the joint U.N.-Arab League envoy, aimed at ending the country’s yearlong crisis that has claimed the lives of more than 9,000 people according to the U.N.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said troops clashed with rebel army defectors in the northern towns of Hraytan and Anadan near Aleppo. The Observatory also reported fighting in the Damascus suburb of Douma and the southern village of Kfar Shams.

Mohammed Abu Nasr, an activist in Hraytan, said the town of about 50,000 has been subjected to intense shelling by tanks and helicopters since 5 a.m. local time. He added that a ground offensive began three hours later and hundreds of troops are pushing their way into the town.

“There are wounded people in the streets that we cannot reach because of the shelling,” Abu Nasr said by telephone. “The situation is catastrophic in the city. Large numbers of people are fleeing.”

Hraytan is just north of Aleppo that has been relatively quiet since Syria’s uprising began in March 2011 when protesters inspired by other Arab Spring revolts took to the streets to call for political reform. The regime has tried to violently quash spreading dissent, and many in the opposition have since taken up arms to protect themselves and attack government troops.

An amateur video posted online by activists showed smoke billowing from several areas in Anadan as the narrator said the shelling was taking place Thursday morning. Another video showed Anadan shortly before sunrise as cracks of heavy gunfire echoed as prayers could be heard blaring from mosques loudspeakers.

Anti-regime activists cited the latest assaults as evidence Assad is trying to crush those seeking to overthrow his regime before the cease-fire goes into effect. Activist groups reported more than 50 dead nationwide on Wednesday.

The opposition suspects Assad agreed to the truce plan just to buy more time to continue his military crackdown on the revolt.

The truce is the keystone of a six-point plan put forward by Annan, the joint U.N.-Arab League envoy. It requires regime forces to withdraw from towns and cities, followed by a withdrawal by rebel fighters. Then all sides are supposed to hold talks on a political solution.