Syrian rebels repel attack on key town

BEIRUT -- Syrian rebels repelled a push yesterday by government tanks into a central town held by forces fighting President Bashar Assad's regime.

The military pressed its offensive on Rastan a day after the regime rejected Arab League calls for the UN to create a peacekeeping force in Syria and for an end to the violent crackdown on dissent. Damascus called the league initiative "a flagrant interference in internal affairs and an infringement upon national sovereignty."

With diplomatic efforts bogged down, the 11-month conflict is taking on the dimensions of a civil war as army defectors clash almost daily with soldiers.

The rebels have taken control of small swaths of territory in central Homs province, where Rastan is, and the northwestern province of Idlib, which borders Turkey.

The Britain-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said three government soldiers were killed in the attempt to storm Rastan, which has been held by the rebels since late January.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Observatory, said hundreds of army defectors were in control of Rastan.

The uprising began last March as mostly peaceful protests against Assad's authoritarian rule, but it has become more militarized in the face of the brutal military crackdown.

The UN human rights chief, Navi Pillay, told the General Assembly yesterday more than 5,400 people were killed last year alone, and the number of dead and injured rises daily.

She said tens of thousands of people, including children, have been arrested, more than 18,000 reportedly are still arbitrarily detained and thousands more are reported missing. Another 25,000 people are estimated to have sought refuge in neighboring countries, and more than 70,000 are displaced internally.

In the central city of Hama, a sniper shot dead a civilian, the Syrian Observatory said. In Idlib, the group said 45 vehicles, including tanks, arrived in the town of Jisr al-Shughour.

Assad's bloody crackdown has left Syria isolated internationally, except for one key ally: Russia. China and Russia outraged the United States and many Arab countries earlier this month when they delivered a double veto to block a UN Security Council resolution calling on Assad to leave power.