'Hundred tanks, troop transports' on Syria highway

Around 100 tanks and troop transports were spotted Wednesday massing at the Syrian town of Ar-Rastan, a major hotspot in seven weeks of anti-regime protests, a rights activist there said.

By Mars Daily Editorial Team · Editorial process

Published May 3, 2011

Around 100 tanks and troop transports were spotted Wednesday massing at the Syrian town of Ar-Rastan, a major hotspot in seven weeks of anti-regime protests, a rights activist there said.

"Reinforcements continue to mass at the northern entrance to Ar-Rastan and, according to our estimates, there must be a hundred tanks and troop transports on the highway between Homs and Hamas near Oronte reservoir," he told AFP.

Earlier, the source said the Syrian army had been strengthening its forces there for the past three days.

Ar-Rastan residents have toppled a statue of the late Syrian president Hafez al-Assad, who was succeeded on his death in 2000 by his son, current president Bashar al-Assad.

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The Mars Daily Editorial Team produces content across our two editorial pillars: space industry news and Mind & Meaning. We cover launches, missions, satellites, defense, and the technology of getting humans to space, alongside the psychology of ambition, isolation, and meaning under extremes. Articles reflect our team's collective editorial process, source verification, drafting, technical review, and editing, rather than a single writer's work. Mars Daily takes editorial responsibility for content under this byline. For more on how we work, see our editorial policy.