Intense shooting in central Syrian city

[July 21, 2011]  BEIRUT (AP) -- A human rights activist and a resident are reporting intense gunfire as Syrian security forces conduct raids and arrests in a restive central city that has experienced some of the worst violence in the past week.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, the director of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, says tanks have closed on some neighborhoods in Homs including Bab Sbaa, where the main raids are taking place.

A resident in the city, says mosque loudspeakers are calling for people to aid Bab Sbaa. The resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisals, says the neighborhood has been subjected to heavy machine-gun fire since 4 a.m. Thursday.

[Associated Press; By BASSEM MROUE]

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