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Syrian forces leave eastern city: SANA reports

18 August 2011 03:51 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Syria’s state-run news agency SANA says army units have begun to withdraw from the eastern city of Deir el-Zour after clearing the city of what it defines as "armed terrorist gangs" in an operation that lasted several days, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Journalists on a government-organized trip to the city reported armored personnel carriers and other military vehicles leaving. Footage showed pictures of crowds chanting and cheering as the soldiers left. Syrian troops seized control of the eastern flashpoint city last Wednesday after shelling it and carrying out a string of arrests. The regime insists its crackdown is aimed at rooting out militants fermenting unrest in the country.

But various human rights groups have accused Syrian troops of firing on largely unarmed protesters and say that more than 1,800 civilians have been killed since the uprising erupted in mid-March.