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Syrian army takes on rebel town
Syrian security forces shot dead five protesters and wounded scores more on Friday, witnesses said, in a widening crackdown on unrest that has sent thousands of civilians fleeing into Turkey this week.
Syrian security forces shot dead five protesters and wounded scores more on Friday, witnesses said, in a widening crackdown on unrest that has sent thousands of civilians fleeing into Turkey this week.
The Syrian army also swept in on the northwest border town of Jisr al-Shughour on Friday to seize "armed" opponents, state television said, as protests erupted anew around the country despite Bashar al-Assad's increasing resort to armed repression.
Inhabitants said at least 15,000 troops along with some 40 tanks and troop carriers had deployed near Jisr al-Shughour.
Residents said government forces killed five protesters in the village of Busra al-Harir in the southern Hauran plain and also fired on thousands defying a heavy security presence in the southern city of Deraa, fount of the three-month-old revolt against President Assad's authoritarian rule.
"There was a demonstration of 1,000 people when the (security police) fired from their cars," a resident of Busra al-Harir said, giving the names of the dead as Adnan al-Hariri and Abdelmuttaleb al-Hariri. However, state television said unidentified gunmen killed a member of the security forces and a civilian in Busra al-Harir.
