SYRIA: U.N. vehicles fired upon and angry crowds throw missiles as they approached the town of Haffeh

Record ID: 280871

  • Title: SYRIA: U.N. vehicles fired upon and angry crowds throw missiles as they approached the town of Haffeh
  • Date: 13th June 2012
  • Summary: DAMASCUS, SYRIA (JUNE 12, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SAUSAN GHOSHEH, UNSMIS SPOKESWOMAN, TALKING TO REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) SAUSAN GHOSHEH, UNSMIS SPOKESWOMAN, SAYING: "U.N. observers trying to reach the town of al-Haffeh today were confronted with angry crowds that surrounded their vehicles, stopping them from proceeding any further. The crowd, who appeared to
  • Embargoed: 28th June 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Syrian Arab Republic
  • Country: Syria
  • Topics: Conflict
  • Reuters ID: LVA2ROIP9GQ7DE7Q7F9R32MJQS24
  • Story Text: United Nations monitors trying to reach the Syrian town of Haffeh on Tuesday (June 12) were turned back by angry crowds who threw stones and metal rods at them, and three U.N. vehicles were fired upon as they left the area, a U.N. spokeswoman said.
    "U.N. observers trying to reach the town of al-Haffeh today were confronted with angry crowds that surrounded their vehicles, stopping them from proceeding any further. The crowd, who appeared to be residents of the area, then hurled stones and metal rods at the U.N. vehicles. The U.N. observers turned back. As they were leaving the area, three vehicles heading towards Idlib were fired upon. The source of fire is still unclear. All U.N. observers are now back at their bases and are secure.The U.N. Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) has been trying to reach al-Haffeh since June 7 but has been impeded by the ongoing violence in the area. UNSMIS calls on the parties to grant the U.N. observers immediate and unfettered access to conflict zones," UNSMIS spokeswoman Sausan Ghosheh told reporters in Damascus.
    Activists say Syrian forces have been battling hundreds of rebel fighters and the United States has warned of a potential massacre.
    The shots were fired deliberately, U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Herve Ladsous told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.
    The 15-month-old conflict in Syria has grown into a full-scale civil war in which the government is attempting to recapture large swathes of urban territory it has lost to the opposition, Ladsous said.
    Syrian State Agency said a U.N. car heading to Haffah hit three people who were trying to tell the observers what is happening in their village. Two of them are in a dangerous situation.
    The situation in Syria is deteriorating in several parts of the country simultaneously as fighting intensifies, making it impossible to respond to all humanitarian needs at once, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Tuesday.
    The ICRC, the only international agency to deploy aid workers in Syria, is trying to locate hundreds of people believed to have fled fighting in several areas of Homs for safer areas in the province, ICRC spokesman Hicham Hassan told Reuters.
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