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Summary Security agents armed with guns and knives conducted house-to-house sweeps.
Thousands of soldiers backed by tanks and snipers have moved in to the city where Syrias anti-government uprising began, causing panic in the streets when they opened fire indiscriminately on civilians and went house-to-house rounding up suspected protesters.Mondays raids left at least 20 people dead and 14 others lay in the streets either dead or gravely wounded, witnesses said.The raids on the southern city of Daraa and at least two other areas suggested Syria is trying to impose military control on the centers of protests against President Bashar Assad, whose family has ruled Syria for four decades. Residents and human rights activists said the regime wants to terrify opponents and intimidate them from staging any more demonstrations.The offensive was meticulously planned: Electricity, water and mobile phone services were cut. Security agents armed with guns and knives conducted house-to-house sweeps, neighborhoods were sectioned off and checkpoints were erected before the sun rose.The massive assault on Daraa appeared to be part of new strategy of crippling, pre-emptive strikes against any opposition to Assad, rather than reacting to demonstrations. Other crackdowns and arrest sweeps were reported on the outskirts of Damascus and the coastal town of Jableh bringing more international condemnation and threats of targeted sanctions by Washington.Another military raid targeted the Damascus suburb of Douma, where rattling, heavy gunfire could still be heard late Monday. Soldiers, masked men in black uniforms and plainclothes security forces were manning checkpoints made from mounds of dirt throughout the area, a resident said.Unrest in Syria has repercussions well beyond its borders. Syria has a pivotal role in most of the flashpoint issues of the Middle East from the Arab-Israeli peace process to Irans widening influence. Instability has thrown into disarray the US push for engagement with Damascus, part of Washingtons hopes to peel the country away from Hamas, Hezbollah and Tehran.
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