At least 27 people are dead after Syrian security forces opened fire on tens of thousands of protesters across several cities Friday, according to Al-Jazeera.
Hundreds of others were wounded and residents were forced to turn mosques into makeshift hospitals, witnesses and a human rights group said.
Ammar Qurabi, who heads Syria’s National Organization for Human Rights, said most of the deaths happened in Daraa, a restive southern city that has become a flashpoint for anti-government protests. Sixteen people were killed in Daraa, three in the Damascus suburb of Harasta, and one in the central city of Homs, he said.
The government acknowledged violence in Daraa, but said only two people died and blamed armed thugs.
Syria’s state-run television claims that 19 police officers were killed in the violence in Daraa.
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3 Responses
Where’s Obama now?
…and Israel was promptly blamed for the deaths of innocent civilians.
Its Israel’s fault of course. I hope these people begin to realize that the more the despots preach to them hate Israel the more their rights go slipping away. If and when they succeed in their revolution the first law they should enact is to hang any Arab leader who starts scapegoating Israel. Only by illegalizing the lie that fooled the people into losing their rights will they be able to insure their freedom for years to come. A pity though, since they can not bring themselves to pass such a law they will therefore continue to wallow in their own mud.