WarSclerotic

Dimashqi said defections among army forces were not uncommon in the area and that soldiers who refuse orders to fire on protesters are often killed.

This past Friday, several army units defected in the Damascus suburbs of Douma, Harasta and Kfar Batna.

Meanwhile, Syrian troops and security forces on Monday launched an assault on the central cities of Hama and Homs and shot dead at least two people, activists said.

“More than 30 military vehicles and security forces raided Hama this morning and heavy gunfire was heard in the city,” Omar Idlibi, spokesman of the Local Coordination Committees, told AFP in Nicosia.

Troops backed by tanks had stormed Hama on July 31, on the eve of the start of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, to fight “armed groups. ” At least 100 people were killed, and the troops withdrew 10 days later.

The protest hub of Homs also witnessed violence Sunday as 15 people were wounded when troops and security forces raked gunfire in the city as part of an operation launched on Saturday night, activists said.

Elsewhere, at least 24 people were killed in violence across the country on Sunday as the visiting head of the Red Cross, Jakob Kellenberger, sought access to those detained in more than five months of anti-regime protests.

Kellenberger is scheduled to leave the country on Monday afternoon.

Arab League secretary general Nabil al-Arabi said Syrian authorities have agreed to his visiting, plans for which he had announced a week ago after the 22-member bloc had met to discuss the Syrian crisis.