Up to 40 reported dead in Syria after security forces attack protesters…(Coming To AmeriKa?)
Activists say forces acting for Bashar al-Assad conducted house-to-house raids after Friday prayers in Hama and Homs
Jo Adetunji
GuardianUK
Friday 28 October 2011
Up to 40 people have been killed after Syrian security forces opened fire on protesters following Friday afternoon prayers, according to activists.
Forces acting for President Bashar al-Assad were reported to have chased protesters and conducted house-to-house raids following the end of prayers in the central cities of Hama and Homs, which have seen an emerging armed insurgency.
One activist, Mustafa Osso, told the Associated Press that Syrian forces opened fire on as many as 2,000 people who had gathered to protest. “There was a very fierce reaction to the protests in Homs. There are many injured as well. Hospitals are having a hard time coping with the casualties,” he said.
It is believed there were at least 170 separate protests across the country. An 80-year-old man was reportedly shot near Homs and a young boy in the south-western city of Deraa, but there were conflicting reports over the details.
Restrictions on foreign journalists make it difficult to confirm events.
In Balaa – a district to the south-west of the capital Damascus that has also seen an emerging armed insurgency – around 20,000 protesters marched against the regime, according to the London-based opposition group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The organisation said there had also been 40 arrests in the Barzeh neighbourhood of Damascus.
The Rest…HERE
