On Monday, April 25th, the violence in Syria escalated, leading towards more than 25 deaths. Before dawn, Syria’s army stormed Daraa, which has been the main center point in the campaign against President Bashar al-Assad. Without warning, the army, complete with tanks and snipers, harassed the town, reportedly killing anything that moved. In the past week, violence has increased, with more than 100 people being killed. This last act can be seen as nothing more than a new phase in an attempt to quill further demonstrations. The Obama administration has taken action by freezing U.S. assets of senior Syrian officials and by denying them permission to travel to the U.S.

 

In addition on Monday, the U.S. State department ordered all non-essential U.S. embassy members in Damascus and all embassy dependents to leave the country. The department also urged all Americans to leave the country as well due to the recent increase of violence.