Nightly News   |  February 11, 2012

Chaos continues in Syria as violence rages

The Syrian government pushes ahead with its military crackdown while mourners gather daily to mark the passing of new victims. NBC News’ Ayman Mohyeldin reports from Cairo.

Share This:

This content comes from Closed Captioning that was broadcast along with this program.

>>> to syria, where at least 17 people were killed as the violence rages on. the crisis there becoming more dire with each passing day. and tonight, the government crackdown is spreading over the border. we get the latest from nbc's ayman mohyeldin.

>> reporter: a young child running under fire. dramatically rescued from a sniper's bullet. the daily barrage of shelling and gun fire has destroyed homes all across the country. life for many has become unbearable. but for the syrian government, this is a war against terrorism. which it claims has killed 2,000 of its soldiers. and today for the first time a hig high-ranking officer was killed in the capital itself. that comes after two explosions rocked military installations in the largest city, aleppo. the attacks have raised fears that the violence can spread to cities that are considered strong holds of the regime and that have been relatively untouched by the 11-month uprising. the u.s. state department released the satellite images showing tanks positioned on the outskirts of cities like homs. the now evacuated u.s. ambassador to syria dismisses the idea that the government is the victim in this conflict.

>> i do not want the syrian government to try through some propaganda scheme to try to hide the truth. the syrian government needs to stop the violence .

>> reporter: but for now, the syrian government is still pushing ahead with its military crackdown. seven days it's pounded the city of homs, killing close to 400 people according to syrian opposition activists. the death toll cannot be independently verified. in neighboring lebanon, supporters of syrian president assad clashed with a group that opposes his regime. raising fears that it could soon spill over the border. as the world watches, mourners gather daily to mark their passing of new victims of the violence. ayman mohyeldin, cairo.