11 Dead, At Least 31 Hurt as Syria Sees Biggest Demos Yet on 'Fall of Legitimacy' Day
Syrian security forces opened fire on Friday on anti-regime rallies killing at least nine protesters, three of them in the capital Damascus, human rights activists said.
The violence came as thousands of protesters took to the streets across Syria after the weekly Muslim prayers calling for the fall of the autocratic regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
The demonstrations were in response to a call by the Facebook group Syrian Revolution 2011, one of the motors of the protests, under the banner, "Fall of legitimacy."
"Security forces tried to break up a rally calling for the fall of the regime with tear gas before opening fire," killing three people and injuring 25 others, an activist in the Damascus neighborhood of Barzeh said, reached by telephone.
They also opened fire on demonstrators in the Damascus suburb of Kiswah, killing at least five people, another activist told Agence France Presse.
"Demonstrators left the mosque after Friday prayers and marched for a few minutes until security forces opened fire to disperse them, killing five people and wounding six others," rights activist Mohammed Enad Suleiman said.
Rami Abdul Rahman, head of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, also reported "one death" in the central city of Homs.
But witnesses told Al-Arabiya television that three people were shot dead in the Homs neighborhood of al-Shammas.
Demonstrations rocked many Syrian cities, including the eastern oil hub of Deir Ezzor where 30,000 protesters filled the streets, while thousands demonstrated in neighboring Median, Abdul Rahman said.
“Today’s protests are the biggest since the eruption of the Syrian revolution in mid-March,” he noted.
Meanwhile the official SANA news agency reported that "several members of the security forces were hit by gunfire in Kiswah."
Syria's state television blamed the civilian deaths in Barzeh on "armed men" whom it said also opened fire on security forces, wounding several including an officer.
The state broadcaster added that a police officer was also killed by gunfire in the Damascus suburb of Qadam, and the official SANA news agency reported that "several members of the security forces were hit by gunfire in Kiswah."
Syria blames the violence on "armed terrorist gangs" and says the protests are being orchestrated from abroad.
Fridays have been a focal point for protesters since the start of pro-democracy demonstrations in mid-March, with Syrians taking to the streets on the weekly day of rest after midday Muslim prayers.
Syrian rights groups say that more than 1,300 people have been killed and 10,000 have been arrested in the regime's brutal crackdown against dissent since the protests -- now in their fourth month -- erupted.
The Facebook page said Friday's protests should send a strong message to Assad that he and his regime are no longer legitimate and must go.
"Bashar is no longer my president and his government no longer represents me," it said.
Source: Agence France Presse
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