Syrian forces accused of killing two at funeral of assassinated politician

SECURITY forces opened fire on thousands of mourners who turned out yesterday for the funeral of a murdered Kurdish opposition leader in north-eastern Syria, killing at least two people.

Activists said security forces also fired on a funeral procession in the Damascus suburb of Douma for three people gunned down the day before. Ten people were also wounded, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The biggest crowds took to the streets of Qamishli, where people marched to mourn Mashaal Tammo, the prominent and charismatic Kurdish opposition figure who was slain on Friday by masked gunmen. His murder was the latest in a string of targeted killings in Syria as the country slides further into disorder, seven months into a popular uprising began against president Bashar al-Assad.

“All of Qamishli is out today, the funeral is turning into a massive protest,” Kurdish activist and lawyer Mustafa Osso said in a telephone interview. The grieving cries of fellow mourners could be heard in the background.

The mourners swelling through Qamishli’s streets called on Assad to step down, with chants of “Leave, Leave,” while others demanded the “execution of the president.” Osso said more than 50,000 people joined the procession.

He said security forces opened fire on the crowd, killing two mourners and wounding several others.

The local co-ordination committees activist network also said at least one person was killed and others injured in the gunfire. The group said the city has been completely shut down after a general strike was declared to mourn Tammo. It said security forces clashed with protesters trying to tear down a statue of Assad’s late father, Hafez, who ruled Syria with an authoritarian grip until his death in 2000.

Tammo, a 53-year-old former political prisoner and a spokesman for the Kurdish Future Party, was also a member of the executive committee of the newly formed Syrian National Council, a broad-based front bringing together opposition figures inside and outside the country in an attempt to unify the deeply fragmented dissident movement.

A vocal regime opponent, Tammo had been instrumental in organising anti-government protests in Qamishli in recent months.

It was not clear who carried out the killing. Some in the opposition said the regime was responsible for his assassination. Osso said Tammo had few known enemies and blamed security forces, but others noted there had been a power struggle between Tammo and rival Kurdish parties.

State-run news agency SANA reported his killing by “four masked gunmen in a black car,” calling him a “national” opposition leader.

His death could spark violent protests in the Kurdish region at a time when Syria’s security forces are already trying to stamp out dissent across much of the country.