Affrontements meurtriers à Homs, Deir Alzour, Banias – 8 mai 2011

Several protesters killed as Syria continues crackdown

latimes.com

A 12-year-old boy and at least four women are among the dead, according to activists who said protests continued in cities across Syria.

By Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times

May 9, 2011

Reporting from Cairo—

Syrian forces loyal to PresidentBashar Assad appeared determined to stop persistent antigovernment protests Sunday, with clashes in several cities leading to several deaths, scores of injuries and hundreds of arrests, activists said.

A 12-year-old boy was reportedly killed in the western city of Homs, where other protesters were injured and dozens were arrested, activists said.

In the eastern oil city of Deir Alzour, two protesters were shot and killed by security forces during a night rally, according to Ammar Qurabi, chairman of the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria, who is based in Cairo.

Protesters reported 250 people had been detained in Baniyas Sunday, tanks were patrolling the city, troops had surrounded a hospital and security forces had arrested doctors.

« Is there any human rights in Syria today? » Razan Zeitoune, a human rights lawyer in Damascus, said via email Sunday.

Zeitoune said Syrian forces had shot and killed at least 10 civilians Saturday in an attack on Sunni districts in and around the capital.

At least four of those killed were women from the nearby village of Deir Alzour Marqab who had been protesting when they were shot, Zeitoune said. She said six other protesters were shot and killed in the coastal city of Baniyas, where a « massive arrest campaign » was underway Sunday. Read more…