Syria: Student shot by security forces at Damascus demonstration

Published on Monday 11 April 2011 16:47

A DEMONSTRATION at Damascus University turned violent yesterday when Syrian security forces raided the gathering, killing one student, as the country's three-week uprising gathered strength, activists said.

Video footage posted online showed what appears to be plainclothes security forces beating protesters and pulling others away as they marched inside the campus of Damascus University.

"The Syrian people are one!" the students are heard shouting.

Syria's National Organisation for Human Rights said one student was shot.

Protests erupted in Syria more than three weeks ago and have grown steadily, with thousands calling for reforms to President Bashar Assad's authoritarian regime. More than 170 people have been killed since 18 March, according to human rights groups.

Also yesterday, some 2,000 mourners chanting "Death is better than humiliation!" turned out in the port city of Banias for a funeral for four people killed there on Sunday, a witness said.

He said the arrival of the army, which manned checkpoints in the city, was met mostly with relief, adding: "We are happy it's … not security forces, who are like regime-hired gangs."