Syria conducts military exercises

Video aired by Syria TV shows extensive military exercises being carried out at an unknown location.

Syria's state-run SANA news agency said that on Sunday evening Syrian missile forces carried out what it called a "practical project" with live ammunition under war-like circumstances.

The aim is to test the missile weaponry in confronting any attack.

The armed forces simultaneously carried out a tactical project with live ammunition, various weapons, aircraft and helicopters.

Syria's Foreign Ministry says the war games were a "routine" exercise and not intended to send any message.

At least a dozen Syrian secret police have defected from an intelligence compound, activists said Sunday, in what appeared to be the first major desertion from a service that has acted as a pillar of President Bashar al-Assad’s rule.

A gunfight broke out overnight after the defectors fled the Airforce Intelligence complex in the center of Idlib city, 280 km northwest of Damascus, and ten people on both sides were killed or wounded, the activists said.


Source: BEIJING (Xinhuanet) by Bi Mingxin - 6 December 2011 - English.news.cn (cntv.cn)

Photo: Syrian armed forces fire a missile during a live ammunition exercise in an undisclosed location on Sunday in a show of strength that could be intended to deter any idea of foreign military intervention. (SANA / Reuters)

(12/6/2011)