The border with Jordan has been closed and Presidential Guard troops have begun large scale killings, according to reports
Armed units from the Presidential Guard and Mukhabarat (intelligence service) have entered the isolated Sunni-Christian area of Banyas and begun large-scale killings of Sunni protestors according to political risk analysts Exclusive Analysis.
As the crackdown on unrest in Sunni strongholds intensifies, credible source reports indicate that soldiers who have refused to shoot civilians have been executed, said Exclusive Analysis in a special incident update.
The army appears to have begun mitigating the conflict by minimising the participation of Sunni conscripts (who form the majority of the population) in the killings.
Instead they have been assigned to cordoning off the city and crowd control. The state-controlled media has remained silent on the issue, except to report the killing of nine Syrian soldiers “at the criminal hands of a group of terrorists and thugs”.
Unconfirmed reports also suggest that rank and file army members are now receiving their commands directly from elite security forces members. This is to prevent fraternisation and conflicts that have previously lead to refusal to carry out orders, Exclusive Analysis’ report claimed.
By contrast, Damascus has seen little violent suppression despite ongoing protests in the capital city.
However, around 1500 anti-government student protestors have been surrounded by the Mukhabarat in the University of Damascus mosque according to Exclusive Analysis.
The risk analysts noted as yet unconfirmed reports from Syrian social media that suggest the army has begun to clear civil records from all state buildings and banks and started building sand barriers in the city.
More significantly, reports from Dar’a, suggest that armed security forces have now closed the Jordanian border with the city.
The Syrian state media has continually portrayed the uprisings as a foreign-sponsored insurgency, and has confirmed that troops searching vehicles on the border have found weapons and ammunition being smuggled into the country in cars.
Syrian officials have refuted claims that the border has been closed, but Exclusive Analysis reports that this claim is not credible.
Recent media reports suggest that around 2000 women carrying white cloths and olive branches have blocked off the main highway between the coastal cities of Tartous and Banias to demand the release of detainees in Bayda and Beit Jnad.
President Assad reportedly freed 191 detainees arrested last week in Douma, yet reports claim that the two villages (Bayda and Beit Jnad) were attacked by pro-government gunman on Tuesday, April 12 with many arrested.
