Syrian tanks shelled the city of Hama for the second day on Monday, killing at least four civilians, residents said. The deaths in the city’s residential Hamidiyah district brought to 84 the number of civilians reported killed in a military crackdown on the central Syrian city.
The Syrian army also intensified an assault on the eastern province of Deir al-Zor, which borders Iraq. Residents said at least 29 civilians had been killed in a weekend tank assault on Deir al-Zor, the provincial capital near the Iraqi border.
Meanwhile, the European Union extended sanctions Monday by imposing asset freezes and travel bans on five more Syrian officials. Catherine Ashton, the EU's foreign policy chief, on Monday warned that the EU would expand the list further “should the Syrian leadership persist in its current path”. The names of the five will be published in the EU's Official Journal Tuesday, a spokesman for Ashton conveyed.
