Saturday, June 18, 2011

Suppression of protests in Syria leaves over 20 dead

At least 22 protesters were killed by gunfire from security forces of Syria, another day of massive protests against the government of President Bashar al-Assad in the country. According to the local coordinating committee, a group that coordinates and documents the demonstrations, repression on Friday claimed ten lives in the southern village of Deal, nine in the central city of Homs, two in the capital's suburb Harasta, and a more in the northern Aleppo.


The protests began as usual after noon Muslim prayers in various parts of Syrian territory, and Hama, Dara, Deir al-Zour, Jableh, Baniyas, Latakia and others, but the security forces acted to try to disperse them. The fire was intense to disperse demonstrations and Baniyas were no casualties among the demonstrators, "said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Observatory of Human Rights in Syria, while other activists reported shelling in Homs.

Syrian state television reported that a policeman was killed and 20 injured when armed groups fired at them in Latakia, and six other officers were wounded in Deir al-Zour in an attack on a police station. Also in the Syrian city of Tripoli, near the border with Lebanon, there were clashes between security forces and about 200 protesters demanding the resignation of al-Assad.

In this context, activists claimed that a large number of soldiers entered the northern city of an-Numan Maarrat as the army surrounded the nearby Khan Shaykhun, beside the main road between Damascus and Aleppo. The day of protests took place shortly after the secretary general of the United Nations (UN), Ban Ki-moon, appealed again to the Syrian president to end the repression of demonstrations and engage in dialogue to resolve the crisis .

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