Syrian security forces opened fire on protesters on Friday north of Damascus and in the south of the country, killing at least nine people, a witness and a human rights activist said.
The shootings came as thousands of Syrians staged demonstrations after Friday prayers.
At least eight protesters died in Douma, 15km north of the capital when police opened fire after protesters emerging from a mosque pelted them with stones, the witness told reporters by telephone.
Photo: Reuters
The death toll could be more than 10, said the witness, but he only provided six full names for those killed: Ibrahim Mubayed, Ahmad Rajab, Fuad Ballah, Mohammed Alaya, Naeem al-Moqaddam and Ammar al-Tinawi as well as someone from the Khuli family and another from the Issa family.
An official denied any involvement by the security forces in Douma, blaming gunmen for shooting at protesters from rooftops, killing several people and wounding dozens including policemen.
“Gunmen opened fire on hundreds of people from rooftops in Douma and on security forces, killing several people and wounding dozens of civilians, security forces and policemen,” the official SANA news agency quoted the official as saying.
SANA also reported that a girl was killed in the industrial city of Homs north of Damascus when gunmen opened fire on civilians and a soldier was seriously wounded when young men tried to snatch his weapon in the southern flashpoint city of Daraa.
At least three people were killed in the village of Sanamen near Daraa, when security forces opened fire on protesters, a human rights activist said.
However, he could identify only one victim, Dia al-Shumari, in his 20s, who was shot dead as he entered Sanamen with protesters from two nearby villages, Ankhal and Jassem.
There was no independent confirmation of the report.
The US applauded what it called the courage and dignity of demonstrators in Syria.
“We condemn and deplore the use of violence against citizens demonstrating in Syria, and applaud the courage and dignity of the Syrian people,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement. “We urge all parties to maintain calm and avoid violence, and call on the Syrian government to respect human rights and to allow for peaceful demonstrations.”
In Daraa itself, witnesses said that thousands of the faithful gathered outside the courthouse after leaving a mosque.
“Death rather than humiliation,” and “National Unity,” they shouted.
Chants were also directed against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose highly anticipated speech to parliament on Wednesday failed to match the demands of pro-reform protests that erupted on March 15.
Protests also took place for the first time in Qamishli and Amuda in the mainly Kurdish populated northeast, Kurdish rights activist Radif Mustafa said.
“Friday of Martyrs” protests were also held in the coastal port of Latakia, Homs and in Darriya, near Damascus, where people chanted: “My beloved Syria, give me my freedom.”
In Damascus, hundreds of protesters locked themselves up inside al-Rifai mosque chanting “Freedom, freedom,” as security forces tried to break in, a demonstrator said. Pro-regime loyalists gathered in the square opposite.
In Banias, 280km northwest of Damascus, about 1,000 people demonstrated without incident. Eighteen Muslim clerics issued a petition saying they “back the people’s demands for reforms, liberty, the lifting of emergency law and the right to protest.”
A little farther north, in the divided city of Latakia, around 200 people staged a protest without incident in the suburb of Sleibi, where rights activists reported deaths on Wednesday.
Assad, facing domestic pressure unprecedented in his 11-year rule, failed to lift almost 50 years of emergency rule in his first address to the nation since the protests began.
Instead, he said there was a “conspiracy” targeting Syrian unity.
Assad blamed Syria’s “enemies” for inciting sectarian divisions in the country ruled by emergency law since the Baath party seized power in 1963.
The Syrian Revolution 2011, a wildly popular yet anonymous Facebook group that has emerged as a driving force of the protests, had called for rallies after Friday prayers.
Activists estimate that more than 160 people have been killed so far in clashes with security forces, mainly in Daraa, and in Latakia, while officials put the death toll at about 30.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese