BEIRUT — The Syrian military vowed Friday to "cut every evil hand" that targets the country's security, a defiant stance by the regime as it faces the possibility of sweeping economic sanctions from the Arab League.

The military statement could signal darker days to come in an eight-month revolt against President Bashar Assad that is turning more violent by the day.

Until recently in the uprising, most of the bloodshed came as security forces fired on mainly peaceful protests. But there have been growing reports of army defectors and armed civilians fighting Assad's forces – a development that some say plays into the regime's hands by giving government troops a pretext to crack down with overwhelming force.

"The choice offered by the regime appears clear-cut: preservation of Assad's rule or collective destruction," the International Crisis Group said in a report this week.

Assad blames the unrest on a foreign plot to destabilize Syria, saying extremists and terrorists – not true reformers – are driving the calls to oust him. On Friday, the military blamed terrorists for an attack a day earlier in Homs, saying six elite pilots and four technical officers were killed in an ambush.

"The general command of the armed forces sees that enemies of the country are behind this terrorist act," the military said. "The armed forces will continue to carry out its mission ... and will cut every evil hand that targets Syrian blood."

Although many Syrians resent police and intelligence agencies that they blame for oppressing the uprising, they respect the armed forces, which is seen as a bulwark against Israel.

Unlike the armies of Tunisia and Egypt, Syria's military has stood fiercely by the country's leader as Assad faces down an extraordinary protest movement.

Original Article