BRUTAL

Syrian Forces Kill 35 in Latakia

In four days of assault on port city.

Residents and activists tell the Associated Press and other news outlets that Syrian security forces have killed 35 people in Latakia during a military assault now in its fourth day. Heavy machine guns and tanks have been firing on the northern port city as President Bashar al-Assad has escalated his brutal, five-month-long crackdown of protests against his regime. Another resident told Al Jazeera that snipers are stationed around the city. A former member of the Syrian secret police told the Sydney Morning Herald that the country has brought in Iranian snipers, suggesting that reports of Iran’s assistance in the crackdown might be accurate.