Bloodshed worsens as Syrian forces open fire on protesters

Published on Friday 13 May 2011 16:17

Syrian security forces opened fire on thousands of protesters yesterday, killing at least six people as soldiers tried to head off demonstrations by occupying mosques and blocking public squares, rights activists said.

One said that three people were killed in Homs, two in Damascus and one in a village outside Daraa, the southern city where the nationwide uprising began in March. He asked that his name not be used for fear of reprisals by the government.

In Damascus, the capital, three rallies were held - the largest number of protests held at one time in the city during the two-month revolt against President Bashar Assad.

Thousands in Syria have persevered with the demonstrations, turning up in huge numbers on Fridays only to be met with bullets, tear gas and batons by security forces.

One activist in Homs, speaking on condition of anonymity, said security forces dressed in black and shadowy pro-regime gunmen known as "shabiha" were doing the shooting. He said the regime forces first fired in the air, then shot directly into the crowd.

In Damascus, security forces fired tear gas in the Zahra neighbourhood, forcing scores of people to disperse. In nearby Mazzeh, protesters ran away when security forces arrived. In Muhajereen, security forces used batons to scatter people.

Assad has come under scathing criticism for the crackdown.

Yesterday, Britain summoned Syria's ambassador to warn that new sanctions will target the regime's hierarchy if Assad does not halt the country's violent crackdown on protesters.

Syrian ambassador Sami Khiyami was called in for talks with Downing Street political director Geoffrey Adams - the second time in recent weeks he had been ordered to explain his government's actions.

In several volatile areas of Syria, residents said soldiers occupied mosques and blocked off major public areas yesterday to prevent people from leaving their homes.

"The army has transformed major mosques in the city into military barracks where soldiers sleep, eat and drink," said a resident in the coastal town of Banias. "They've put up barriers and sandbags around the mosques."

Up to 1,200 security forces have deployed in the public square in the centre of town, and soldiers and armed thugs have broken into shops, offices and homes to intimidate people.

There is a media blackout in Syria, making it impossible to confirm witness accounts.

Other protests were around the north-eastern city of Qamishli, where about 5,000 people marched in the streets chanting "Freedom!" and "Freedom to political prisoners!" said rights activist Mustafa Osso.

Thousands also were demonstrating in nearby Amouda and Derbasiyeh, he said.

The government's crackdown has increased in intensity. On Wednesday, the army shelled residential areas in central and southern Syria, killing 19 people, a human rights group said.

UN: '850 dead'

The UN's human rights office has said that activists' reports of up to 850 people being killed during anti-government protests in Syria are realistic.

A spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said government forces appeared to have continued their violent crackdown on protesters by shelling parts of the city of Homs, the country's third largest-city and a centre of the uprising.

Reports from human rights groups "suggest that somewhere between 700 and 850 people have been killed," spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva.

"We cannot verify these numbers for sure, but believe they are likely to be close to reality," he said.