Security forces fire into funeral crowd A

France 24, 21/05/2011

By Lucy FIELDER in Beirut (video)

News Wires (text)

AFP -

n activist in Syria said at least five people were killed and dozens wounded after security forces fired into a crowd following funerals of protesters in Homs Saturday. In further violence, people were also killed by security forces on Friday.

Syrian security forces killed at least five people and wounded dozens of others Saturday in the central city of Homs as they fired at a crowd after funerals for anti-regime protesters, an activist told AFP.

"Tens of thousands had accompanied the funeral procession from the city's main mosque to Tal al-Nasr cemetery," said the activist, contacted by telephone. "The shooting began as people were coming out of the cemetery."

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Security forces on Friday killed 44 people, including 13 in Homs, as anti-regime protests swept the country following weekly Muslim prayers, according to activists.

The official SANA news agency acknowledged that 17 people were killed, among them police and security forces, and blamed the violence on armed gangs.

Foreign media are not authorised to travel in the country to report on the unrest, making it impossible to verify accounts.

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Date created : 21/05/2011

44 Syrians killed in "Friday of freedom": Human rights group

DAMASCUS, May 21 (Xinhua) --

The National Organization for Human Rights in Syrian said Saturday that 44 Syrians were killed in Friday's anti-government protests, pan-Arab al-Jazeera TV reported.

The organization said that most of deaths were in the provinces of Homs and Idlib.

Human rights activists said the security forces have killed 960 citizens so far during the protests that have been sweeping the country since mid-March.

On Friday, thousands of anti-government protesters rallied in cities of Damascus, Homs, Daraa, Banias, al-Boukamal and Idlib in what activists had dubbed as "Friday of freedom," witnessed said.

Editor: Yang Lina

Unidentified "armed groups" kill 17 people in Syria: TV

DAMASCUS, May 20 (Xinhua) --

Unidentified "Armed groups" killed 17 people on Friday in several cities in Syria, the country's state-run TV reported.

The report said that the "armed groups" opened fire on people who were demonstrating peacefully in the northern province of Idleb and the outskirts of the central province of Homs.

Another armed group also burned down the national-TV station in the city of Palmyra, some 245 km northeast of Damascus, the report added.

Meanwhile, Syria's SANA news agency said hundreds of protestors took to streets in a number of Syrian provinces after Friday prayers calling for freedom, and dispersed peacefully without interference of security forces.

Syria has been in unrest for more than two months after the anti-government demonstrations broke out in the southern province of Daraa. The protests have spread to several other Syrian cities, leading to the death of dozens of protesters and policemen.

The ruling Baath party of Syria, which ruled the country for decades, has announced a package of reforms, including the increase of salaries and release of political detainees.

Editor: yan