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A bold rebel assault on Damascus was crushed two weeks ago in fierce fighting, but the latest raids show that pockets of resistance remain in the capital and the surrounding countryside. Abu Qais said that at least 20 people were killed by raids in the Yalda suburb, in the south, while the Observatory reported that 47 people had been killed in the Jdaidat Artouz neighborhood to the southwest. Videos from Wednesday posted by activists show piles of bloody corpses, many with visible bullet holes. The videos could not be independently authenticated. There has been a growing chorus of international condemnation of Syria's handling of the 17-month uprising, which activists estimate has taken 19,000 lives. A vote is set for Friday in the U.N. General Assembly on a resolution drafted by Arab League countries, telling Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down and turn over power to a transitional government. While the 193-member General Assembly has no legal mechanism for enforcing a resolution, an overwhelming vote can carry moral and symbolic power. The U.N. World Food Program, meanwhile, sounded the alarm Thursday over the humanitarian situation in Syria with close to 3 million people needing food and livestock assistance in the next 12 months
-- more than 10 percent of the country's population of 22 million. The study carried out by the WFP as well as the Syrian Agricultural Ministry said the country's agricultural sector has lost $1.8 billion this year from damaged crops and livestock. It's not just the fighting that has kept farmers from their harvest but also shortages in fuel, electricity and labor to work the farms. The statement warned that the country's poorest would be the hardest hit.
[Associated
Press;
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