EIRUT — Syrian security forces fired at thousands of protesters early Tuesday in the central city of Homs, breaking up a demonstration to demand the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad, activists said.
At least one person was reported killed when the security forces assaulted a downtown square, firing live ammunition and tear gas to dislodge protesters and chasing them through the streets.
Protesters had begun a sit-in Monday night in Clock Square in the center of Homs after a day of funerals for people killed the previous night by state security forces. Renaming the place “Liberation Square,” the demonstrators had vowed to remain there in the same manner as Egyptian protesters whose demands for regime change led to the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak in January.
But after warning protesters to disperse by 2:30 a.m., security forces in Homs began shooting at the crowd at 2 a.m., said Rami Nakhla, a Syrian dissident in Beirut who said he spoke with eyewitnesses in Homs.
“They said security forces fired on them,” Nakhla said. “There were tanks on the street.” By midday, he said, the square had been cleared.
The confrontation was the latest in a mounting cycle of violence, funerals, protests and more violence that is beginning to emerge in Syria. More than 200 people have been killed in the government crackdown over the past month, human rights groups have reported. Eight people were killed in Homs late Sunday, and 17 others died Monday as the violence spread, news agency reported.
Assad has tried in the past week to offer concessions, including naming a new cabinet, releasing detained protesters and promising to replace 48-year-old emergency laws.
But at the same time, his government has taken a firm stance against protesters, who started last month by calling for political reforms but have more recently been demanding Assad’s ouster.
The mood in Homs turned tense Monday night after a Ministry of Interior announcement blamed the unrest on a “mutiny led by Salafi armed groups,” a reference to fundamentalist Sunni Muslims. The government has asserted that sectarian groups and outside provocateurs are behind the protests, and on Monday it listed the names of three army officers it said had been killed by “armed criminal groups.”
Although protesters have insisted their movement is peaceful, there may have been instances of violence from their side, said Nadim Houry, a researcher for Human Rights Watch in Beirut.
“It’s possible that there was a revenge killing of army officers, and this has to be investigated,” he said. “But the government is using a broad paintbrush to paint all protesters as some kind of Salafi attack.”
Houry added, “Nothing can justify the more generalized crackdown.” In government ranks, “clearly there has not been a decision to allow peaceful protests,” he said.
The Homs protesters had erected a large tent Monday night to dispute the government’s claims that they represented an Islamist sect, Nakhla said. “They set up one big tent to show that all Syrian sects are under it.”
source link :- http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/syrian-forces-fire-on-protesters-in-homs-as-crackdown-intensifies/2011/04/19/AFuvaW4D_story.html
At least one person was reported killed when the security forces assaulted a downtown square, firing live ammunition and tear gas to dislodge protesters and chasing them through the streets.
Protesters had begun a sit-in Monday night in Clock Square in the center of Homs after a day of funerals for people killed the previous night by state security forces. Renaming the place “Liberation Square,” the demonstrators had vowed to remain there in the same manner as Egyptian protesters whose demands for regime change led to the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak in January.
But after warning protesters to disperse by 2:30 a.m., security forces in Homs began shooting at the crowd at 2 a.m., said Rami Nakhla, a Syrian dissident in Beirut who said he spoke with eyewitnesses in Homs.
“They said security forces fired on them,” Nakhla said. “There were tanks on the street.” By midday, he said, the square had been cleared.
The confrontation was the latest in a mounting cycle of violence, funerals, protests and more violence that is beginning to emerge in Syria. More than 200 people have been killed in the government crackdown over the past month, human rights groups have reported. Eight people were killed in Homs late Sunday, and 17 others died Monday as the violence spread, news agency reported.
Assad has tried in the past week to offer concessions, including naming a new cabinet, releasing detained protesters and promising to replace 48-year-old emergency laws.
But at the same time, his government has taken a firm stance against protesters, who started last month by calling for political reforms but have more recently been demanding Assad’s ouster.
The mood in Homs turned tense Monday night after a Ministry of Interior announcement blamed the unrest on a “mutiny led by Salafi armed groups,” a reference to fundamentalist Sunni Muslims. The government has asserted that sectarian groups and outside provocateurs are behind the protests, and on Monday it listed the names of three army officers it said had been killed by “armed criminal groups.”
Although protesters have insisted their movement is peaceful, there may have been instances of violence from their side, said Nadim Houry, a researcher for Human Rights Watch in Beirut.
“It’s possible that there was a revenge killing of army officers, and this has to be investigated,” he said. “But the government is using a broad paintbrush to paint all protesters as some kind of Salafi attack.”
Houry added, “Nothing can justify the more generalized crackdown.” In government ranks, “clearly there has not been a decision to allow peaceful protests,” he said.
The Homs protesters had erected a large tent Monday night to dispute the government’s claims that they represented an Islamist sect, Nakhla said. “They set up one big tent to show that all Syrian sects are under it.”
source link :- http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/syrian-forces-fire-on-protesters-in-homs-as-crackdown-intensifies/2011/04/19/AFuvaW4D_story.html
Shiney Ahuja
Shiney Ahuja
Shiney Ahuja
Shiney Ahuja
Shiney Ahuja
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