DAMASCUS/BEIRUT: Regime forces launched a fierce assault on the rebel bastion of Rastan in central Syria yesterday, raining shells on the town before launching a ground attack, monitors and activists said.
The rebel Free Syrian Army, meanwhile, denied it was behind the kidnapping of Lebanese Shiites in the north, an incident adding to tensions in neighboring Lebanon which is already divided between pro- and anti-Damascus camps.
Russia warned yesterday of the Syrian conflict spilling over into Lebanon, calling on all parties to avoid fresh unrest at all costs.
Similarly, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah warned of "the gravity of the crisis and its potential to escalate into a sectarian conflict in Lebanon, dragging it back into the specter of civil war."
Four Gulf Arab nations - Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates - have told their citizens to stay away from Lebanon, citing security concerns, and Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah said the “shadow of civil war” hangs over Lebanon.
Meanwhile, there was no immediate word on any casualties at Rastan but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said seven people were killed in other parts of the country.
Soldiers were trying to storm Rastan under the cover of heavy gunfire, shelling and rocket bombardment, the Britain-based watchdog said, adding that at one stage shells smashed into the town at a rate of "one a minute." An activist said that Free Syrian Army fighters were defending Rastan's entrances but that "regime forces are being strengthened with new deployments," including from the elite Republican Guard.
"Electricity has been cut off in Rastan, and water tanks have been shelled," said activist Abu Rawan. "There is also a severe lack of food because the market is closed and we can't bring food in from nearby villages."
Besieged by regime forces for several months, Rastan is home to a large number of rebel fighters, according to opposition sources. Most residents have fled after months of fighting.
Elsewhere, troops fired on protesters in Syria's second city Aleppo as about 1,500 people rallied against the regime, triggering armed clashes, said the Observatory, without providing any details on casualties.
Activists said lawyers and sympathizers with the revolt staged a sit-in at Aleppo's judicial complex to demand the release of political prisoners, as well as pay tribute to four students killed at a May 3 rally in the northern city.
The uprising against President Bashar Assad broke out with peaceful democracy protests in March 2011, prompting a fierce crackdown.
More than 12,600 people have been killed in the bloodshed, nearly 1,500 of them since a UN-backed truce took effect April 12, said the Observatory.
The raging violence took a broader turn in the region after Lebanon's state news agency said Syrian rebels kidnapped 13 Lebanese as they were headed home by bus from Iran.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansur said yesterday the Lebanese were abducted by "a splinter group of the armed Syrian opposition", but added he expected their release "within hours."
The Free Syrian Army strongly denied involvement.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, a strong ally of the embattled regime in Damascus, appealed for calm and said his Hezbollah militant group was doing its utmost to ensure the safe release of the men.
"I call on everyone to show restraint," Nasrallah said in a televised speech.
Yesterday, Iran's charge d'affaires in Damascus, Abbas Golrou, said three Iranian truck drivers had also been abducted by "armed opposition groups" in Syria.
"They entered Syria via Turkey by road, without consulting the embassy... They were attacked and abducted by armed opposition groups" on Monday, Golrou said, quoted by Iranian media.
Oil Minister Sufian Allaw said yestersday Western sanctions on Syria for its deadly crackdown on dissent have cost the country almost $4 billion and caused shortages in fuel products.
“The oil sector has lost almost $4 billion because of the unjust European and US sanctions, blocking exports and imports of oil and oil derivatives,” he told a news conference.
Two weeks ago, the minister said Western sanctions on Syrian oil exports had cost his country nearly $3 billion in lost revenues.
On Wednesday, he acknowledged “new difficulties” in Syria’s energy needs, especially for domestic gas.
“The measures taken by the EU and United States are behind this crisis. They want to put pressure on the Syrian people by widening the embargo,” the minister said.
But “we will also overcome the new difficulties,” he said, pointing out that Syria was now importing 50 percent of its domestic gas and gasoil needs.
Syrian forces launch fierce assault on rebels
