Syria TV airs footage of gunmen shooting in Deraa
22 killed & dozens injured in 3 Syrian cities: activists
Friday, 08 April 2011
DAMASCUS (Agencies)
Twenty-two people were killed on Friday in three Syrian cities during anti-regime protests, said Ammar Qurabi, head of Syria's National Organisation for Human Rights.
"We have the names of 17 demonstrators killed in Daraa, and we have been told of the deaths of two protesters in Homs and three in Harasta," Qurabi told AFP by telephone.
Earlier, the state news agency SANA reported shooting in Deraa, but it said "vandals" had opened fire on mass gatherings, killing a policeman and an ambulance driver and wounding dozens of police and residents.
Syrian state television aired footage earlier Friday of several masked gunmen who could be seen shooting in what it said was the southern city of Deraa, according to Reuters.
The news anchor said the gunmen were firing at protesters and police. "A peaceful demonstration which vandals infiltrated .. attacked the electricity company and started shooting and opened fire on the television (station)."
"We have the names of 17 demonstrators killed in Daraa, and we have been told of the deaths of two protesters in Homs and three in Harasta," Qurabi told AFP by telephone.
Earlier, the state news agency SANA reported shooting in Deraa, but it said "vandals" had opened fire on mass gatherings, killing a policeman and an ambulance driver and wounding dozens of police and residents.
Syrian state television aired footage earlier Friday of several masked gunmen who could be seen shooting in what it said was the southern city of Deraa, according to Reuters.
The news anchor said the gunmen were firing at protesters and police. "A peaceful demonstration which vandals infiltrated .. attacked the electricity company and started shooting and opened fire on the television (station)."
"Some of the gunmen were firing live bullets on protesters and security forces. This expresses clearly and openly that there are some people who wish evil on Syria," the news anchor said. The Syrian government has blamed killings during weeks of pro-democracy protests on armed groups shooting at random, while protesters say they have been targeted by security forces.
Earlier in the day, violent clashes broke out after weekly Friday prayers between Syria's security services and demonstrators in Deraa, a rights activist told AFP.
"Thousands of demonstrators leaving from three mosques marched to the courthouse but security forces dressed in civilian clothing fired tear gas to disperse them. Demonstrators threw stones and clashes ensued," he said by telephone.
"The situation is very tense," he added.
Syrian security forces had deployed earlier in Deraa as thousands, including people from neighboring towns, streamed in ready to demonstrate after the traditional prayers.
Earlier in the day, violent clashes broke out after weekly Friday prayers between Syria's security services and demonstrators in Deraa, a rights activist told AFP.
"Thousands of demonstrators leaving from three mosques marched to the courthouse but security forces dressed in civilian clothing fired tear gas to disperse them. Demonstrators threw stones and clashes ensued," he said by telephone.
"The situation is very tense," he added.
Syrian security forces had deployed earlier in Deraa as thousands, including people from neighboring towns, streamed in ready to demonstrate after the traditional prayers.
Political reforms urged
"Hundreds of members of security forces in civilian clothes armed with batons and electric batons are deployed on the streets of the city," the activist said, asking not to be named for security reasons.
President Bashar al-Assad, under popular pressure to introduce major political reforms and end emergency powers which give security services great leeway to crush dissent, has ordered a probe into Deraa's protest casualties.
Thousands of people on Friday also marched in towns in northern Syria, mainly in predominantly Kurdish Hassake and Qamishli, calling for an end to emergency rule and the release of prisoners, another rights activist said.
"More than two thousand people, Kurds, Arabs and Assyrians (Christians), demonstrated in Qamishli after Friday prayers," Kurdish rights activist Radif Mustafa told AFP.
"And hundreds of Kurds rallied in the streets of Hassake, Ammuda, Derek and Deirbassiye calling for the release of prisoners and the abolition of emergency law," he added.
The demonstrators chanted "God, Syria and Freedom" and "Neither Arabs, nor Kurds, national unity," according to Mustafa.
In Douma, a suburb 15 kilometers north of Damascus, residents had formed committees to verify the identity of people arriving for a rally and check that they were not carrying weapons, according to a human rights activist.
He told AFP demonstrators and authorities reached an agreement allowing protestors to rally without the intervention of security forces.
"This agreement, so far, has been respected," he said.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said at least eight people, but perhaps as many as 15, were killed last Friday in Douma when men in civilian clothes, suspected by witnesses to be security services, opened fire at protesters.
President Bashar al-Assad, under popular pressure to introduce major political reforms and end emergency powers which give security services great leeway to crush dissent, has ordered a probe into Deraa's protest casualties.
Thousands of people on Friday also marched in towns in northern Syria, mainly in predominantly Kurdish Hassake and Qamishli, calling for an end to emergency rule and the release of prisoners, another rights activist said.
"More than two thousand people, Kurds, Arabs and Assyrians (Christians), demonstrated in Qamishli after Friday prayers," Kurdish rights activist Radif Mustafa told AFP.
"And hundreds of Kurds rallied in the streets of Hassake, Ammuda, Derek and Deirbassiye calling for the release of prisoners and the abolition of emergency law," he added.
The demonstrators chanted "God, Syria and Freedom" and "Neither Arabs, nor Kurds, national unity," according to Mustafa.
In Douma, a suburb 15 kilometers north of Damascus, residents had formed committees to verify the identity of people arriving for a rally and check that they were not carrying weapons, according to a human rights activist.
He told AFP demonstrators and authorities reached an agreement allowing protestors to rally without the intervention of security forces.
"This agreement, so far, has been respected," he said.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said at least eight people, but perhaps as many as 15, were killed last Friday in Douma when men in civilian clothes, suspected by witnesses to be security services, opened fire at protesters.
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