Syrian forces kill 17 in Homs as outrage mounts

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DAMASCUS: Syrian security forces shot dead 17 people in the protest hub of Homs on Wednesday, while withdrawing from the city of Hama, as Washington turned up the heat on embattled President Bashar al-Assad.

On Tuesday, a defiant Assad had pledged to pursue a relentless battle against "terrorist groups," seemingly oblivious to the mounting international pressure against his regime.

Security forces "fired indiscriminately on residents of the Baba Amro neighbourhood, killing 11 people," one activist told AFP in Nicosia by telephone from the central city.

The toll was later raised to 17, with at least another 20 wounded.

"Some bodies are lying in the sun and people cannot remove them because of the shooting," one activist said.

Meanwhile, an AFP correspondent on a government-sponsored tour said dozens of military vehicles crammed with soldiers streamed out of Hama to which residents were trickling back.

"The army units have gone back to their barracks after having accomplished their mission, and residents, happy to be rid of the armed gangs who tried to sow discord among the population, have returned home," a high-ranking officer said.

That was confirmed by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who sent his ambassador to Hama to witness the pullout.

"Our ambassador went to Hama and said that the tanks, security forces had started to leave Hama. This is highly important to show that our initiatives had positive results," Erdogan said in Ankara.

Meanwhile, a military source said troops were also pulling out of one town in the province of Idlib bordering Turkey.

The operation aimed "to hunt down saboteurs and armed groups at the request of Idlib's residents" and troops are now "returning to their barracks, after achieving their mission," the source said.

The AFP journalist said she saw dozens of soldiers stream out of Ariha in the south of Idlib province.

But rights activist Rami Abdel Rahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said troops were conducting a vast operation in the Idlib town of Sermin, where a woman was killed.

Explosions and heavy gunfire also echoed in the eastern oil hub of Deir Ezzor and residents were fearing a new military operations in the city where the army killed 42 people on Sunday and 17 on Tuesday, said Abdel Rahman.

In a new turn of the screw, the United States imposed sanctions on Syria's largest commercial lender, Commercial Bank of Syria, and largest mobile phone operator, Syriatel.

The US Treasury said it was "taking aim at the financial infrastructure that is helping provide support to Assad and his regime's illicit activities."

The move freezes the US assets of the businesses targeted and prohibits US entities from engaging in any business dealings with them, the Treasury said.

Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen charged that the state-owned Commercial Bank of Syria was "an agent for designated Syrian and North Korean proliferators."

Washington also called for greater international pressure on Assad ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on Syria, when a top UN official is to brief the council, one week after it condemned the government violence.

Troops backed by tanks stormed Hama on July 31, the eve of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, to fight "armed groups," killing 100 people in the single bloodiest day since the crackdown began, activists say.

The bloodshed triggered a deluge of international condemnation and prompted the Security Council, under pressure from European and US leaders, to issue a statement demanding an end to the violence.

Russia backed the statement after refusing along with China to endorse a tougher formal resolution, and has since urged Syria to comply and engage in reform.

Since then three Arab countries, including heavyweight Saudi Arabia, have recalled their ambassadors to Damascus for consultations as more Arab voices rose to condemn Syria over its crackdown.

"From the United States' point of view we are going to continue and intensify our pressure both through our national actions, in additional sanctions, as well as coordinated efforts with other partners here in New York and around the world," US Ambassador Susan Rice said.

"In the view of the United States, (Assad) has lost his legitimacy to rule and Syria would be a better place without him," the ambassador added.

"We are looking to the future and looking to lend support to the people of Syria who have the same aspirations for freedom and democracy that we have seen in so many other parts of the world."

However, she said she was "loath to predict how exactly the council will respond in the future."

"I think members have been moved by what they have seen of late and by the intensifying and horrific violence that we have seen against civilians. But we have also been frustrated quite candidly that it has taken as long as it has for the council to speak with one voice," she said.

"It is past time for all council members to put the interests of the Syrian people rather than particular bilateral issues or interests at the forefront of their actions," she added.

Brazil, India and South Africa have all stepped into the diplomatic fray, dispatching envoys to Damascus to seek a solution to the crisis and end the bloody crackdown that has claimed more than 2,000 lives since mid-March.

Briefing them, Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said security forces are confronting "terrorist groups" and stressed Syria's rejection of "foreign interference" and "media provocation."

"Certain Syrian cities are under the grip of armed terrorist groups ... (and) troops have been deployed to such cities to restore stability and security," he said. (AFP)