Syrian soldiers have been shot by security forces after refusing to fire on protesters, witnesses said, as a crackdown on demonstrations against the rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad intensified.
Witnesses told al-Jazeera and the BBC that some soldiers had refused to shoot after the army moved into Banias in the wake of intense protests on Friday.
Human rights monitors named Mourad Hejjo, a conscript from Madaya Village, as one of those shot by security snipers.
Photo: EPA
“His family and town are saying he refused to shoot at his people,” said Wassim Tarif, a local human rights monitor.
Footage on YouTube shows an injured soldier saying he was shot in the back by security forces, while another video shows the funeral of Muhammad Awad Qunbar, who was killed for refusing to fire on protesters, sources said.
Signs of defections will be worrying to Syria’s regime. State media reported a different version of events, claiming nine soldiers had been killed in an ambush by an armed group in Banias.
Activists said not all soldiers reported dead or injured were shot after refusing to fire.
“We are investigating reports that some people have personal weapons and used them in self-defense,” Tarif said.
The reports came as a leading Syrian opposition figure said pro-government gunmen had attacked two villages close to Banias, which has become the latest focus of violence since protests on Friday. Haitham al-Maleh told reporters attackers were using automatic rifles in Bayda and Beit Jnad.
Human rights organizations said at least five protesters in Banias had been killed since Sunday, including one on Tuesday.
A human rights lawyer said security forces had arrested 200 residents in the coastal town of Baida, 10km south of Banias, on Tuesday.
“They brought in a television crew and forced the men they arrested to shout ‘We sacrifice our blood and our soul for you, Bashar’ while filming them,” said the lawyer, who was in contact with residents in Baida.
“Syria is the Arab police state par excellence. But the regime still watches international reaction, and as soon as it senses that it has weakened, it turns more bloody,” said the lawyer, who did not want to be further identified.
Assad, who tried to position Syria as self-declared champion of “resistance” to Israel while seeking peace with the Jewish state and accepting offers for rehabilitation in the West, has responded to the protests with a blend of force and promises of reform.
However, the mass public demands for freedom and an end to corruption, now in their fourth week, have yet to abate.
Syrian secret police and soldiers surrounded Baida on Tuesday and went into houses, arresting men up to 60 years old. Gunfire was heard earlier in the day and one man was killed, the activists said.
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