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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Eight militants die in Syria clash with Islamists |
| 2005-12-08 |
| DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Eight Muslim militants were killed in a clash between Syrian security forces and an Islamist group in a farm in central Syria on Thursday, the state news agency SANA reported. "After an exchange of fire with members of the group for about an hour, a big explosion was heard inside the farm... Three of the group members blew themselves up with explosive belts and five others were killed in the clash," SANA said. The group was hiding in a farm in the town of Maaret al-Nouman near the city of Edleb. It said various weapons were found at the farm including explosive belts. Syria said on Wednesday its security forces found an explosives factory in the northern city of Aleppo a few days after a clash in which two militants were wounded and later died after confessing that they planned militant acts. The two militants said before they died that they planned contacts with factions active in neighboring countries. Security forces have clashed with Islamic militants several times this year, usually in raids to arrest them. Two more militants were killed and another wounded in a similar clash in Aleppo last month. The United States has piled pressure on Syria to seal its long eastern desert border with Iraq to stop militants from crossing to fight U.S. forces there. Syria says it is doing its best but calls on the United States and Iraq to do more too. Authorities say they have also tightened the noose on suspected Arab Islamists, arresting dozens and extraditing scores to their home countries, including Saudi Arabia. In the early 1980s, Syria crushed an Islamist revolt led by the Muslim Brotherhood movement, leading to the killing and imprisonment of thousands. One group accused by the Syrian authorities of planning attacks -- the Jund al-Sham, or Soldiers of the Levant -- has been linked by some terrorism analysts to al Qaeda leader in Iraq and Jordanian militant, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. |
| Posted by:Steve |