At least 32 Syrians were killed, most of them civilians, as security forces clashed on Friday with protesters defying a crackdown in the restive cities of Daraa and Homs, activists and officials said.
In Daraa, forces opened fire as “thousands of people” from neighbouring towns tried “to deliver aid and food” to the restive southern city, which has been under siege since Monday, an activist said in Nicosia on the phone.
“At least 12 people were killed at the western entrance of Daraa, four at the eastern entrance and dozens more were wounded,” said the activist, updating an earlier toll of seven dead.
Separately, a military official said “an armed terrorist group attacked a military post in Daraa at dawn,” state news agency SANA reported. “Four soldiers were killed and two were captured.”
However, there have been reports of troops refusing to fire on protesters, and the four soldiers “were killed defending residents,” as tanks and snipers controlled the city, activist Abdullah Abazid said.
In Homs, at least 12 people, including three members of the security forces, were killed at protests in the industrial city, according to an activist and the interior ministry.
“Three police officers … were shot dead today after being targeted by extremist terrorist groups when they performed their duties,” the official SANA news agency quoted a ministry source as saying.
A human rights activist said security forces killed nine people in Homs, which is located 160km from the capital Damascus.
The deaths came as tens of thousands of protesters poured onto the streets around the country following a call for a “day of rage” against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad after weekly Muslim prayers. — AFP