Six Syrian protesters shot dead in Daraa

FE Team | Published: March 24, 2011 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

DARAA, Mar 23 (AFP): Syrian security forces fired Wednesday on anti-regime protesters near a mosque, killing six and wounding scores, rights activists said as the government blamed a "gang" for the violence. Hundreds of people had gathered at the Omari mosque, the focus of rallies in the flashpoint southern town of Daraa since Friday, to prevent police from storming it. Security had been beefed up after they set up tents to camp there. "Security forces fired live bullets and tear gas on protestors" staging a sit-in near the mosque, a rights activist said, adding "They cut off electricity and the firing started." The official SANA news agency said the attack was carried out by a gang using children as "human shields," and that it left four people dead including a security force member. Syrian state television later showed footage of what it said was a stockpile of weapons inside the mosque including pistols, shotguns, grenades and ammunition. There was no way to immediately verify the reports. Syria, which is still under a 1963 emergency law banning demonstrations, has seen a string of small but unprecedented protests demanding the end of President Bashar al-Assad's regime for one week now. And while the government of Assad, who succeeded his father in 2000, has promised to probe the Daraa killings, analysts warn the situation is volatile. "The tension is still latent at this point, but the situation is explosive," said Haytham Maleh, a Syrian human rights lawyer who was detained for five months in 2009 for criticising the government. Daraa, a town about 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of Damascus and home to large tribal families, has been the focal point of the rallies, the latest in a string of uprisings against long-running autocratic regimes in the Arab world. After being taken in for questioning, they received an apology from the authorities, but had still not received their equipment back. The photographer said soldiers were manning checkpoints at all entries to the town and were cross-checking the identity cards of travellers with a list of names they had compiled. The demonstrations also spilled into the nearby towns of Jassem and Noa, where eyewitnesses said more than 2,000 protesters gathered for a rally before being quickly dispersed by security forces.