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Deaths, Injuries Reported in Widespread Protests Across Syria

Margaret Besheer | Beirut April 29, 2011

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets across Syria on Friday on what young people called their "day of rage" against the authoritarian government of President Bashar al-Assad.

Friday's demonstrations marked one of the few times anti-government protesters have gathered on the streets of the city's capital, Damascus, where security forces tried to disperse at least 10,000 of them.

In addition to Damascus, thousands of people were reported to have demonstrated in dozens of cities and towns, including Homs, Banias and Qamishli. They marched in solidarity with residents of the besieged southern town of Daraa, which has felt the crackdown the hardest.

Meanwhile, in the Mediterranean coastal town of Latakia, eyewitnesses report that security forces opened fire on demonstrators to disperse them.

At least six deaths were reported in Daraa: two protesters and four soldiers.

The government says four of its soldiers were killed and two captured in what it describes as a "terrorist" attack on a military post early Friday.

Syrian authorities blame armed gangs and infiltrators supplied with weapons from Lebanon and Iraq for inciting weeks of anti-government protests. The government claims its military crackdown launched this week is to protect citizens.

President Assad has lifted the country's decades-old state of emergency and promised reforms, but it may no longer be enough to satisfy protesters.

Syrian activist Rami Nakhle, who now lives in Beirut, said Friday's demonstrations are the biggest yet during the last six weeks since the uprising began, and show that the Syrian people are no longer afraid to call for the government's ouster.

"The first persons who went to the streets in the beginning of these events, they want to topple this regime, but they [could not] say it at the beginning," Nakhle said. "But now they [have] start[ed] to say it. Now they [are] start[ing] to say it. They are they are protected by the crowd. The barrier of fear [has] start[ed] to fall. So people [are] not afraid anymore."

Syria's banned Muslim Brotherhood called for the first time Friday for people to join the protests. The group said accusations by the authorities that militant Islamists were behind the unrest were aimed at causing a civil war and undermining demands for political freedoms.

Activist Nakhle said Syrians, even those who supported Assad, see through the government's claims.

"To fight Salafist armed groups, why to cut electricity? Why to cut medical aid? Why to cut water?" Nakhle asked.

In what could be a sign of some division within the Syrian military, witnesses reported clashes between two army divisions in the flashpoint town of Daraa. While on Thursday, 200 mostly low-ranking Ba'ath Party members resigned over the violent crackdown.

Human rights groups say more than 500 protesters have been killed since the anti-government demonstrations began on March 15. Most foreign media have been banned from the country, so independent verification of reports has been difficult.