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10 gov’t forces killed by gunmen ambush in Syria’s Idlib: media

14 October 2011 17:16 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A military source said Friday armed groups ambushed Thursday army and law-enforcement forces in the Binnish town of northern province of Idlib, killing 10 officers and injuring 19 others, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The source was quoted by Syria’s official news agency as saying that large quantities of weapons and ammunition were seized there in addition to stolen cars and modern communication apparatuses.

Meanwhile, the Doha-based al-Jazeera TV cited witnesses as saying that about 13 people were killed during the new anti- leadership Friday protests erupted in several Syrians cities, including the hotbeds cities of Idlib and Homs.

Syria’s state-run TV disputed the report, accusing al-Jazeera of acting out a foreign conspiracy by fabricating events on the ground and leaping over facts.

According to a recent UN tally, 3,000 people have been killed since the eruption of protests in mid-March. However, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem recently put the number of army officers and law-enforcement troops killed by "terrorist groups" at more than 1,110.

The unrest in Syria has sparked an international criticism over the alleged government crackdown on the opposition protesters. The European Union on Thursday expanded sanctions on the Syrian leadership, a move that brought the number of Syrian entities targeted by the block’s asset freeze to 19.

Arab foreign ministers will meet on Sunday in Egypt’s capital of Cairo to discuss the months-long crisis in Syria, according to al-Jazeera.