14 Killed in Syria Demonstrations

Fourteen people were killed on Friday in demonstrations in several Syrian cities that took place under the banner of “Death Rather than Humiliation.”

Local Coordination Committees (LCC) announced via internet sites that seven people were shot dead by Syrian security forces in the region of Reef Damascus and three were killed in the province of Deir al-Zour.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Agence France Presse that one person was killed in the town of Talbisa, in the flashpoint central province of Homs, and said seven others were wounded when the security forces tried to quash a demonstration.

Syrian opposition Facebook groups reported that demonstrations took place in several areas in the provinces of Aleppo, Idlib, Homs, Daraa, and Damascus.

The LCC said demonstrators rallied outside the home of the attorney general of the province of Hama in support of his reported decision to resign.

Mohammed Adnan al-Bakkour said in a contested video posted on YouTube late Wednesday he resigned in disgust at hundreds of killings and mass burials and thousands of arrests by Assad's regime.

Syrian officials say Bakkour was kidnapped and made the announcement under duress.

The LCC also reported that protesters rallied in the central square of the northern city of Amuda demanding the "fall of the regime" while some carried signs "urging Russia to stop arms sales to the regime."

A women’s rally was launched in the town of Jassem in Daraa province where the mobile phone network was severed.

The Observatory added that sniper groups had deployed Friday morning on the rooftops of government buildings in the villages of al-Houla.

Meanwhile, Syrian television reported that the security forces managed to thwart an attack of armed groups in the town of Talbisa, killing two of the armed individuals.

It added that a number of security forces were injured in simultaneous attacks on two checkpoints in the towns of Hammourieh and Arbeen in Reef Damascus.