AMMAN - Tens of thousands of Syrians rallied in support of President Bashar al-Assad in the northern city of Aleppo on Wednesday while to the south his troops carried out a sustained offensive to crush the seven-month uprising against his rule. The state-organised gathering in Syria's commercial hub came a week after a similar demonstration in the capital Damascus, showing authorities can still rally mass support in the country's two main cities despite waves of unrest across the nation. "We love you" sang demonstrators, holding pictures of Assad and waving Syrian, Russian and Chinese flags - a reference to Moscow and Beijing's veto of a United Nations draft resolution which could have led to UN sanctions against Damascus. Huge flags were draped from seven-storey buildings around the square where demonstrators gathered to hear nationalist songs and speeches of support for Assad, who has defied US and European calls to step down. Residents said Aleppo schools were closed on Wednesday to boost attendance at the rally. In the central city of Homs, where residents say gunmen and army deserters have battled government forces sweeping through several neighbourhoods, activists said six people were shot dead by pro-Assad "shabbiha" gunmen in the Naziheen district. Those deaths raised to at least 38 the death toll in a three-day army offensive in Homs, a city of one million which has seen regular anti-government protests. Near the border with Lebanon, activists said two people were killed in the town of Nazariya. Foreign journalists are largely banned from Syria, making independent confirmation of reported events difficult. Syrian authorities blame "armed terrorist groups" for the unrest and say 1,100 police and soldiers have been killed. The United Nations says Assad's crackdown has killed 3,000 people, including 187 children. Syria's opposition National Council, which has pledged to seek international protection to stop civilian deaths and has called for the uprising to remain peaceful, was recognised by Libya on Wednesday as the country's legitimate authority. Assad has sent troops and tanks into cities and towns to put down the unrest. But protests have persisted, although in reduced numbers, with several thousand soldiers from the mainly Sunni Muslim rank-and-file army now challenging his rule. Diplomats and military analysts say moves by Assad, of the minority Alawite sect, to crush the protest movement inspired by the Arab Spring that overthrew veteran leaders in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, have fuelled army desertions. Several officers have recently announced their desertion, although most desertions have been Sunni conscripts who usually man roadblocks and form the outer layer of military and secret police rings around restless cities and towns. The officer corps of Syria's army is composed mainly of members of the Alawite community. The latest desertions included 20 soldiers who left their posts near the town of Hirak, 80 km (50 miles) south of Damascus, and clashed with troops after the killing of three protesters demonstrating against the arrest of a popular cleric, activists said. One Hirak resident said the clashes, which broke out late on Tuesday, continued on Wednesday and troops sealed off the city cemetery to prevent mourners burying the dead protesters. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said four of Assad's troops were killed in the province of Idlib near the border with Turkey in northwest Syria. "Attrition is increasing within army ranks and beginning to form a problem for Assad. The geographical area of the protests is large and the regime is being forced to use Sunni soldiers to back up core forces," a senior European diplomat in Damascus said. "It is taking longer and longer for loyalist forces to control rebel areas. Large areas of Idlib are virtually out of control and it took them 10 days to regain a small town like Rastan," he said, referring to fighting in which opposition sources say 100 insurgents and deserters were killed and Assad's forces also suffered heavy losses.
