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Syrian troops storm Damascus suburb, kill 4
In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, workers pump oil from the site of a bomb blast that struck a major oil pipeline in the western town of Talkalakh, Syria, Friday, July 29, 2011. Syrian state television described the blast as a
BEIRUT (AP) — Activists say Syrian troops have stormed a suburb of the capital Damascus, killing at least four people.
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the four were killed during a raid on Kiswah Friday night. The observatory said Saturday the deaths in Kiswah raised Friday's death toll to 12.
Mohammed Abdullah, a spokesman for the Local Coordination Committees, which track the protests in Syria, says at least six people were killed in the Kiswah raid. He said at least 22 were killed Friday.
Authorities have waged a brutal crackdown that activists say has killed more than 1,600 civilians since the anti-government protests began in mid-March.
President Bashar Assad's government has sought to discredit those behind the protests by saying they are terrorists and foreign extremists, rather than true reform-seekers.
(Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
