Bashir can't catch a break. - "Fresh protests erupt in Syria "

[pampango]

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/06/2011617104839976447.html


Anti-government protests have continued despite several apparent concessions by the Syrian government

Anti-government protests have begun in several towns and cities across Syria, with the army reportedly entering a town in the rebellious northwest. Rallies started in Homs, Hama, Deraa, Der al-Zour, Jableh and other cities after Friday prayers.

Earlier, Mustafa Osso, a Syria-based rights activist, said large numbers of soldiers had entered the northern town of Maarrat an-Numan early in the morning. Omar Idilbi of the Local Co-ordination Committees, an activist network, said troops were in full control of the town, which the army surrounded a day earlier along with nearby Khan Shaykhun on the main north-south road linking Damascus and Aleppo.

Military operations in Idlib province have prompted more than 9,000 Syrians to stream north across the border into Turkey. Thousands are also sheltering inside Syria close to the border.

Turkish officials are preparing to send food, clean water, medicine and other aid to thousands more stranded on the Syrian side. "We have taken precautions and humanitarian aid will be supplied for around 10,000 people who are waiting on the Syrian side of the border," Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, said after he met with an envoy from Assad on Thursday. He also reiterated Turkey's support for major democratic reform in Syria.

Bashir must feel like he's playing Whack-A-Mole. He uses tanks to clear a few towns of protesters and thousands more pop up in other towns. Got to admire the Syrian people and those members of the security forces who have defected.

[pinboy3niner]

1. UPDATE: "Nineteen people have been killed today in today's protests in Syria"

Nineteen people have been killed today in today's protests in Syria, according to activist Malath Aumran, a member of the opposition group the Local Coordination Committees of Syria.

Those killed include 13-year-old Anas Al-Hariri from Dael in the south, he said.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/jun/17/syria-saudiarabia-middle-east-unrest-live#block-36

And:

Extraordinary footage from the central Syrian city of Homs purports to show people braving heavy gunfire to protests in the city (2:27):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6goXzjSpJo&feature=youtu.be

And an earlier report called the numbers of protests occurring in cities and towns throughout Syria "striking."

"We expect the death toll in Syria to climb as the day goes on," Nadim Houry of Human Rights Watch reports in this Skype interview.

...


"It's been a depressingly familiar Friday. You have large protests, terribly courageous protesters coming out, and so many reports of the security forces firing," he said.

Houry, who is monitoring the crisis from Beirut, said: "One thing that has been striking is that each Friday we are seeing protests in many, many, many towns. We are talking dozens of towns, small and large. So it is going to be hard to collect all that information."

He added that the number of desertions from the army had not reached a critical point, but more and more were refusing to shoot at protesters.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/jun/17/syria-saudiarabia-middle-east-unrest-live#block-32