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| Syrian Rebels Reported to Take Key City After Heavy Fighting | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| BEIRUT, Lebanon — Syrian rebel fighters seized much of the contested north-central city of Raqqa on Monday after days of heavy clashes with government forces, smashing a statue of President Bashar al-Assad’s father in the central square and occupying the governor’s palace, according to activist groups and videos uploaded to the Internet. | |
| If the insurgents manage to gain and retain control of Raqqa, capital of Raqqa Province, it would signify a potentially important turn in the two-year-old Syrian conflict. Raqqa, a strategic city on the Euphrates River, would be the first provincial capital completely taken over by the armed resistance to President Assad. For the government, the loss of Raqqa would diminish the prospects that Mr. Assad’s military, now fighting on a number of fronts, could retake a vast swathe of northern and eastern Syria from the rebels. | |
| The Raqqa news coincided with reports from Iraq that at least 40 Syrian soldiers who had taken temporary refuge from rebels on the Iraqi side of the border on Sunday were killed on Monday as the Iraqi military was transporting them back into Syria on a bus. Iraqi officials said the bus was damaged by bombs and that unidentified gunmen killed most of the occupants. If confirmed, it would be the most deadly case of cross-border violence between Iraq and Syria since the Syrian conflict began. | The Raqqa news coincided with reports from Iraq that at least 40 Syrian soldiers who had taken temporary refuge from rebels on the Iraqi side of the border on Sunday were killed on Monday as the Iraqi military was transporting them back into Syria on a bus. Iraqi officials said the bus was damaged by bombs and that unidentified gunmen killed most of the occupants. If confirmed, it would be the most deadly case of cross-border violence between Iraq and Syria since the Syrian conflict began. |
| Rebel videos posted on YouTube about the Raqqa takeover included the destruction of a statue of Hafez al-Assad, the former president and father of Bashar, whose family’s four-decade-old control of the country is now threatened by the insurgency. Footage showed anti-Assad activists pulling the statue down, its head smashing in the fall. | |
| The Local Coordination Committees, a network of anti-Assad activists in Syria, said the governor’s palace in Raqqa had been seized by insurgents. An activist reached by phone in Raqqa, Abu Muhammad, said he also believed that the palace had been “completely liberated.” The whereabouts of its loyalist occupants was not clear. | |
| “The only place still under control of the regime, in the entire province of Raqqa, is the military security building,” the activist said. “Clashes are raging there right now between the heroes of the free army and regime forces.” | “The only place still under control of the regime, in the entire province of Raqqa, is the military security building,” the activist said. “Clashes are raging there right now between the heroes of the free army and regime forces.” |
| Raqqa had been under insurgent siege for days, but a breakthrough came Saturday when government forces abandoned the city’s central prison. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based anti-Assad group with a network of observers inside Syria, said fighters from Al Nusra Front and other insurgent units seized the prison and released hundreds of inmates. | |
| Earlier Monday, anti-Assad activists reported heavy fighting was raging between rebels and government forces backed by tanks and warplanes in Homs, the central Syrian city that had been relatively quiet recently. | Earlier Monday, anti-Assad activists reported heavy fighting was raging between rebels and government forces backed by tanks and warplanes in Homs, the central Syrian city that had been relatively quiet recently. |
| Details of the clashes were imprecise, but the Syrian Observatory said fighting flared in several neighborhoods of Homs after government forces had launched an offensive to dislodge rebels on Sunday. | Details of the clashes were imprecise, but the Syrian Observatory said fighting flared in several neighborhoods of Homs after government forces had launched an offensive to dislodge rebels on Sunday. |
| An activist in Homs, contacted via Skype, who identified himself as Abu Bilal, said there had been a successions of “explosions that shook the entire city” on Monday and clouds of black smoke blanketed some neighborhoods. The Local Coordination Committees said there had been “fierce and continuous shelling from heavy artillery and rocket launchers” directed at insurgents in several areas. | An activist in Homs, contacted via Skype, who identified himself as Abu Bilal, said there had been a successions of “explosions that shook the entire city” on Monday and clouds of black smoke blanketed some neighborhoods. The Local Coordination Committees said there had been “fierce and continuous shelling from heavy artillery and rocket launchers” directed at insurgents in several areas. |
| The clashes seemed to shift attention from Aleppo, where fighting had swirled for days around the Khan al-Asal police academy in Aleppo, Syria’s most populous city and once regarded its economic heart, after months of attempts by the insurgents to storm it. | The clashes seemed to shift attention from Aleppo, where fighting had swirled for days around the Khan al-Asal police academy in Aleppo, Syria’s most populous city and once regarded its economic heart, after months of attempts by the insurgents to storm it. |
| Both sides in the civil war, which started as a peaceful uprising almost two years ago and has now claimed an estimated 70,000 lives, acknowledged relatively high death tolls in the fighting for Khan al-Asal. | Both sides in the civil war, which started as a peaceful uprising almost two years ago and has now claimed an estimated 70,000 lives, acknowledged relatively high death tolls in the fighting for Khan al-Asal. |
| The pro-government Al-Watan newspaper in Syria on Monday accused opposition fighters of massacring 115 police officers and wounding 50 there. | The pro-government Al-Watan newspaper in Syria on Monday accused opposition fighters of massacring 115 police officers and wounding 50 there. |
| On Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 200 government soldiers and rebels died in the fighting. With other fatalities elsewhere, the Observatory said, the tally for the day stood at 260, among them 115 government troops, 104 rebels and 45 civilians. | On Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 200 government soldiers and rebels died in the fighting. With other fatalities elsewhere, the Observatory said, the tally for the day stood at 260, among them 115 government troops, 104 rebels and 45 civilians. |
| The fighting coincided with new efforts by outsiders, including the United States, Britain and their allies, to support the rebels with nonlethal aid. The British foreign secretary, William Hague, has hinted, however, that Britain might consider arming the insurgents — a stance that prompted Mr. Assad to say in an interview published on Sunday that Britain was seeking to “militarize” the conflict. | The fighting coincided with new efforts by outsiders, including the United States, Britain and their allies, to support the rebels with nonlethal aid. The British foreign secretary, William Hague, has hinted, however, that Britain might consider arming the insurgents — a stance that prompted Mr. Assad to say in an interview published on Sunday that Britain was seeking to “militarize” the conflict. |
| In an interview published in The Sunday Times of London, Mr. Assad also restated his terms for peace talks that seemed likely to preclude any negotiations with rebels who are pressing the Obama administration to go beyond the $60 million in nonlethal aid promised by Secretary of State John Kerry last week. | In an interview published in The Sunday Times of London, Mr. Assad also restated his terms for peace talks that seemed likely to preclude any negotiations with rebels who are pressing the Obama administration to go beyond the $60 million in nonlethal aid promised by Secretary of State John Kerry last week. |
| “How can we ask Britain to play a role while it is determined to militarize the problem?” Mr. Assad said. “How can we expect them to make the violence less while they want to send military supplies to the terrorists?” The Syrian authorities call their armed adversaries terrorists. | “How can we ask Britain to play a role while it is determined to militarize the problem?” Mr. Assad said. “How can we expect them to make the violence less while they want to send military supplies to the terrorists?” The Syrian authorities call their armed adversaries terrorists. |
| Mr. Hague responded by saying: “I think this will go down as one of the most delusional interviews that any national leader has given in modern times.” | Mr. Hague responded by saying: “I think this will go down as one of the most delusional interviews that any national leader has given in modern times.” |
| Britain plans to announce a new package of aid for the rebels this week, but Mr. Hague has declined to specify what it contains. | Britain plans to announce a new package of aid for the rebels this week, but Mr. Hague has declined to specify what it contains. |
| In the interview with The Sunday Times of London, Mr. Assad said he was “ready to negotiate with anyone, including militants, who surrender their arms.” | In the interview with The Sunday Times of London, Mr. Assad said he was “ready to negotiate with anyone, including militants, who surrender their arms.” |
Hania Mourtada reported from Beirut, | Hania Mourtada reported from Beirut, Lebanon; Alan Cowell from London; and Rick Gladstone from New York. Reporting was contributed by an employee of The New York Times from Baghdad, and an employee of The Times from Damascus, Syria. |