Middle East
Syrian forces 'fire on Homs protesters'
Witnesses say at least nine killed, including two boys, in latest protests
against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
Last Modified: 20 May 2011 13:46
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Syrian soldiers deploy tanks in the village of Arida, near the Lebanese-Syrian
border, on Friday [REUTERS]
Syrian security forces have killed at least nine people in Homs, including an
11-year-old boy, in the latest armed crackdown on protesters, according to
witnesses speaking to Al Jazeera.
Two boys, named as Aiham al-Ahmad, 11, and 16-year-old Ahmad Bakr, were killed
when police officers opened fire on Friday, after their vehicle crashed into a
wall and was attacked by protesters, according to a witness.
"The four secret police officers opened fire on the protesters with machine
guns," a witness said.
The attack took place after officers drove police cars into a crowd of about
2,000 demonstrators in an attempt to disperse them, a second witness said.
After hitting several protesters with the vehicles, one of the cars crashed
into a wall, prompting the officers to jump out and open fire.
Click here for more of Al Jazeera's special coverage
Four other protesters, two of them identified by activists as Raqan Mishrif and
Mustapha Ali al-Zakrit, were also killed, while at least seven others were
wounded.
Al Jazeera is unable to verify the reports because of restrictions on reporting
imposed by Syria's government.
In a separate incident, three residents were killed when security forces
attempted to storm a hospital in the al-Wa'r neighbourhood of Homs, according
to a witness.
Locals responded by forming a human chain around the hospital, in an attempt to
prevent the police arresting wounded protesters inside. The witness said some
locals had shot at the police using handguns.
Gunfire in Baniyas
Syria has launched a bloody crackdown over the past two months in response to
an unprecedented uprising against Bashar al-Assad, the country's president.
Human rights groups say more than 850 people have been killed.
Syria has blamed the unrest on armed thugs and foreign agitators.
According to organisers, there were also protests on Friday in the
Mediterranean port of Baniyas, the central city of Hama and the coastal city of
Latakia. It was unclear if there were any casualties.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that gunfire was continuing in
Baniyas. Another person was shot in Sanamin, a village near the southern
flashpoint city of Deraa, they said.
There was no confirmation of the reports.
Damascus clashes
There were more reports of violence in Damascus, the Syrian capital, where a
witness told Al Jazeera that regime supporters with iron bars had attacked a
group of 500 to 700 worshippers as they left the Dahabiyyeh mosque in the Old
City, after Friday prayers.
Protesters had planned a demonstration to start after the prayers but the imam
had warned against protests starting from his mosque. The attackers were
waiting outside the mosque, the witness said, suggesting they knew a protest
was planned.
Click here to follow Al Jazeera's Syria Live Blog
In Midan, a conservative Sunni neighbourhood of Damascus, a demonstration by
Abu Ayoub al-Ansari mosque had barely begun before security forces fired tear
gas on around 1,000 protesters, arresting several, a witness told Al Jazeera.
At the nearby al-Hassan mosque, protesters chanted for an end to the military
sieges imposed on Deraa, Baniyas, Homs and Douma, and for freedom, a witness
said.
Midan has been the scene of the largest anti-regime protests in the capital
since the uprising began, but protests on Friday were allowed to proceed,
despite a heavy security presence.
In Berze, a suburb northeast of Damascus, between 500 to 700 protesters marched
from al-Diea mosque towards the Salaam mosque, planning to join other
protesters heading to the main square, according to a witness there.
There was a heavy security presence in Berze, said the witness, but the
protesters had so far been left alone.
A video uploaded to YouTube appears to show protestors in Berze using back
alleys to protest, which activists said was a new strategy to avoid protesters
coming under fire from snipers, as is reported to have happened during previous
Friday protests. Al Jazeera cannot independently verify the video's contents.
The protesters in the video can be heard calling for more people to join them
in the streets chanting "Feza'a," a traditional Arabic expression for SOS.
They also chant: "We are victorious, we are all lions and tigers." Their signs
read: "We don't want anyone who kills our family and children" and "Go away, we
don't love you".
'Azadi Friday'
The Kurdish-majority areas of Syria's northeast saw smaller than expected
numbers of protesters, according to a Kurdish political activist, despite
nationwide demonstrations being dubbed by organisers as 'Azadi Friday', the
Kurdish word for freedom.
In Qamishli, around 3,000 protesters took to the streets, calling for the
toppling of the regime, a call that was echoed across the north. In Amouda,
some 6,000 demonstrated, in Deir Basiyye around 2,000 and in Ain al-Arab around
2,000, he said. There were also protests in Ras al-Ain.
The numbers were larger than last Friday but well below the tens or even
hundreds of thousands opposition organisers hope the Kurds, who have not faced
the same level of armed crackdown as protesters elsewhere in Syria, could bring
to the street.
"The governor of the region had warned all state employees that they would face
dismissal if they participated in any protests," said the activist. Over the
past week, some 250 activists in the area had been arrested and interrogated,
he said, with 45 formally charged with conducting illegal demonstrations.
"All Syrians agreed to use the Kurdish word for freedom today, in solidarity,
as the regime is trying to divide Arabs, Kurds and Assyrians in the area," he
said.
"The regime is also trying to accuse the Kurds of working for foreign interests
and of working towards a separate Kurdistan, which is not true."
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
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Topics in this article
People
* Ali al-Zakrit
* Ahmad Bakr
* Aiham al-Ahmad
Country
* Syria
City
* Homs
* Arida
Organisation
* Syrian police
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