9 officers killed by armed groups in central Syria

Xinhua, October 9, 2011

Nine army officers were killed and 11 others injured Saturday during clashes with armed groups in Syria's Hama city, a hotbed of the recent unrest, the private Sham FM radio station reported.

Many of the gunmen were killed in the confrontation in Jisr al-Mazareb area of the city, the report said, adding that large amounts of weapons and ammunition were seized in that area.

In a related development Saturday, seven army men, who had been killed in separate clashes with armed gangs over the past few days, were laid to rest, according to official SANA news agency.

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Fayssal Mikdad told a meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva that Syria is subject to various forms of war threats.

Around 1,100 security agents and law-enforcement members were killed by armed groups during the past seven months, he said.

A recent UN tally put the number of civilians who were allegedly killed by security forces at 2,900.

In another development, Syrian Foreign Ministry summoned the Austrian charge d'affaires in Damascus Saturday to convey the Syrian government's strong objection to recent attacks against its embassy in Austria.

SANA quoted Ahmed Arnous, the assistant foreign minister, as saying that the Syrian government condemns the attack as a "criminal act" and holds the Austrian authorities responsible for any dereliction in protecting the Syrian embassy in Vienna, which was attacked on Friday by a number of people who stormed the embassy and vandalized its contents.