UN observers inspect the prayer hall of the Sayyida Zeinab shrine which was damaged after a car bomb exploded near the shrine, in a suburb of Damascus, Syria, Thursday June 14, 2012. A car bomb exploded Thursday in a Damascus suburb that is home to a popular Shiite Muslim shrine, wounding at least two people, Syria's state-run news agency SANA reported, while activists said regime troops continued shelling rebellious areas in central Homs province. (AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi)
June 14, 2012 - 7:39 AM
DAMASCUS, Syria - Witnesses say a team of United Nations observers has entered the Syrian town of Haffa, one day after the government overran the area near the Mediterranean coast.
The observers stopped by the burned-out building of the ruling Baath party's local branch during Thursday's visit.
The observers have been trying to get into Haffa in the coastal Latakia province for a week. The mountain enclave has been the scene of intense clashes between troops and hundreds of rebels holed up there. Authorities said Wednesday they "cleansed" the area.
On Tuesday, an angry crowd hurled rocks and sticks at the U.N. mission's vehicles near Haffa, forcing them to turn back.
News from © The Associated Press, 2012