E-Paper
Mass protests across Syria, 4 killed
Syrian security forces opened fire on Friday killing four people as thousands of anti-regime protesters poured onto streets of flashpoint cities after the Ramadan weekly prayers, rights activists said.
Syrian security forces opened fire on Friday killing four people as thousands of anti-regime protesters poured onto streets of flashpoint cities after the Ramadan weekly prayers, rights activists said.
Friday’s operations come in defiance of warnings by the United States that Syria will face further sanctions if it does not stop killing protesters.
A man was shot dead in an early morning assault on the Damascus suburb of Saqba while a woman died when troops opened fire during a dawn raid in the town of Kahn Sheikhun in northwestern Idlib province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
As thousands poured out of mosques after the noon prayers in the central city of Hama, security forces opened fire, killing a civilian and wounding three others, the Britain-based Observatory said.
Hama has been the scene of some of the bloodiest clashes since an uprising began mid-March against the authoritarian rule of president Bashar al-Assad.
At least 100 people died when troops backed by tanks stormed the city on July 31.
Another man died in sniper fire near a mosque in Homs.
The protests are in response to a call by Facebook group The Syrian Revolution 2011, a driving force behind the anti-regime protests, for “no-kneeling” mass demonstrations after the weekly prayers.
