'Let Israel come and take Syria'
As Syrian security forces step up crackdown against demonstrators, desperate citizens plead for international intervention. 'Let the Jews come – anything is better than Bashar Assad,' says Daraa resident
News agencies Published: 04.26.11, 08:19 / Israel News
The Syrian government continues to crack-down on pro-reform protesters, with Monday's death toll reaching between 11 and 25 people during a demonstration in Daraa, according to varying reports.
Thousands of soldiers backed by tanks poured Monday into the city where the five-week-old uprising began, opening fire indiscriminately on civilians before dawn and killing at least 11 people, witnesses said.
The offensive was planned in detail with electricity, water and mobile phone services cut off and knife-wielding security agents conducting house-to-house sweeps.
Witnesses said busloads of troops poured in before dawn and snipers took up positions on the roofs of houses and high buildings while other security agents searched houses for suspected protesters.
"We need international intervention. We need countries to help us," a witness in Daraa told the Associated Press on the phone, adding that he saw five corpses after security forces opened fire on a car.
