Local Voters In Siriah 2011
Syrians are due to vote in municipal elections Monday, the first test of reforms promised by President Bashar al-Assad's government following protests against his rule.
The elections cover more than 17,000 seats on local councils across the country's 14 provinces. The government has called for a large voter turnout.
The poll comes a day after violence killed up to 18 people nationwide. The clashes Sunday included a major confrontation in southern Syria, where army defectors battled loyalist forces backed by tanks near the Jordanian border.
Residents and activists said government troops from Syria's 12th Armored Brigade stormed the southern town of Busra al-Harir. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said three military vehicles were burned in the clashes. The group said similar battles took place Sunday in several other parts of the south.
Reuters news agency quoted local residents as saying defectors had been hiding in the area and attacking military supply lines, provoking the government assault. The Observatory said separate clashes between government troops and deserters in the northwestern town of Kfar Takharim saw two civilians killed and two troop transport vehicles set ablaze.
The activist group said eight people were killed across Syria Sunday, while the opposition Local Coordination Committee put the death toll at 18. It was not possible to independently verify the death toll.
In the flash point city of Homs, an opposition leader said the government has warned protesters to hand in weapons and surrender defecting military members by Monday night or face bombardment. CNN quoted Lieutenant Colonel Mohamed Hamdo of the Free Syrian Army as saying the 72-hour warning was given Saturday.
Several regions across Syria observed the opposition's call for a general strike Sunday, the first working day of the week, as activists push for an end to Mr. Assad's government through civil disobedience.
The opposition Local Coordination Committee has urged citizens to gradually escalate the protests by holding sit-ins, closing facilities and refusing to work in the public sector.
Rights groups said security forces attempted to open shops by force and carried out arrests in several towns, although most business continued as usual in the capital, Damascus, and in the commercial hub of Aleppo. In the southern city of Daraa, army troops and militiamen loyal to Syrian President Assad broke up the strike.
Also Sunday, fallout from the anti-government protests spilled over into neighboring Jordan, where a crowd of angry Syrian citizens attacked their country's embassy. The Syrian mission in Amman has been the scene of several protests since the anti-government uprising broke out in Syria nine months ago.
President Assad has been facing mounting international pressure to end a crackdown on dissent that the United Nations says has claimed more than 4,000 lives.
The elections cover more than 17,000 seats on local councils across the country's 14 provinces. The government has called for a large voter turnout.
The poll comes a day after violence killed up to 18 people nationwide. The clashes Sunday included a major confrontation in southern Syria, where army defectors battled loyalist forces backed by tanks near the Jordanian border.
Residents and activists said government troops from Syria's 12th Armored Brigade stormed the southern town of Busra al-Harir. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said three military vehicles were burned in the clashes. The group said similar battles took place Sunday in several other parts of the south.
Reuters news agency quoted local residents as saying defectors had been hiding in the area and attacking military supply lines, provoking the government assault. The Observatory said separate clashes between government troops and deserters in the northwestern town of Kfar Takharim saw two civilians killed and two troop transport vehicles set ablaze.
The activist group said eight people were killed across Syria Sunday, while the opposition Local Coordination Committee put the death toll at 18. It was not possible to independently verify the death toll.
In the flash point city of Homs, an opposition leader said the government has warned protesters to hand in weapons and surrender defecting military members by Monday night or face bombardment. CNN quoted Lieutenant Colonel Mohamed Hamdo of the Free Syrian Army as saying the 72-hour warning was given Saturday.
Several regions across Syria observed the opposition's call for a general strike Sunday, the first working day of the week, as activists push for an end to Mr. Assad's government through civil disobedience.
The opposition Local Coordination Committee has urged citizens to gradually escalate the protests by holding sit-ins, closing facilities and refusing to work in the public sector.
Rights groups said security forces attempted to open shops by force and carried out arrests in several towns, although most business continued as usual in the capital, Damascus, and in the commercial hub of Aleppo. In the southern city of Daraa, army troops and militiamen loyal to Syrian President Assad broke up the strike.
Also Sunday, fallout from the anti-government protests spilled over into neighboring Jordan, where a crowd of angry Syrian citizens attacked their country's embassy. The Syrian mission in Amman has been the scene of several protests since the anti-government uprising broke out in Syria nine months ago.
President Assad has been facing mounting international pressure to end a crackdown on dissent that the United Nations says has claimed more than 4,000 lives.
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Local Voters In Siriah 2011
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