WarSclerotic

At least 15 reported killed in Syria, amon… JPost – Middle East.

  At least 15 people were reported killed in Syria on Friday in protests against President Bashar Assad‘s regime, Al Arabiya said.

Earlier, residents told Reuters that security forces shot dead three protesters in the central Syrian city of Homs, and at least three youths in the main district of Barzeh in Damascus when they fired at a protest demanding the Assad’s overthrow. Other deaths were reported in towns near the capital.

“The ‘amn’ (security police) first used teargas then they started shooting from rooftops when shoutings against Assad continued. Three youths were killed and I saw two bodies shot in the head and the chest,” a resident of Barzeh who gave his name as Hussam said by phone.

“Barzeh has been surrounded by the army and police for days, but protests managed to break out from two mosques. The ‘amn’ are now chasing protesters in alleyways and firing randomly,” he said, with the sound of bullets in the background.

Syrian state television said gunmen fired on security forces, killing three civilians and wounding an officer and several security force personnel in Barzeh.

Thousands take to the streets in latest day of protests

Tens of thousands of Syrian protesters took to the streets on Friday calling for Assad’s overthrow.

“Tell the world Bashar is without legitimacy,” shouted several thousand protesters in the Damascus suburb of Irbin, an eyewitness said, the chants echoing over the phone. Syria has expelled most foreign journalists.

In the central cities of Homs and Hama protesters shouted “the people want the downfall of the regime,” while in Deraa, cradle of the uprising, people waved banners rejecting Assad’s promise in a speech this week to launch a national dialogue.

Protests also erupted in western coastal cities and eastern provinces near Iraq, a day after Syrian troops swept to the northern border with Turkey, prompting another 1,500 refugees to flee across the frontier into camps which Turkish officials say now host more than 11,000 refugees.

Syrian television said on Friday army units were “completing their deployment” in border villages. It said there had been no casualties during the operation and that soldiers were greeted with traditional welcomes of “flowers and rice” by residents.

Assad’s repression of the protests, in which Syrian rights groups say more than 1,300 civilians have been killed, has triggered Western condemnation and a gradual escalation of US and European Union economic sanctions against Syrian leaders.

On Friday the European Union announced extended sanctions against Syria, including against three commanders of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard accused of helping Damascus curb dissent. Syria denies Iran has played any role in tackling the unrest.

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