Syrian forces kill 5 protesters: reports

People carry the coffin of a protester during a funeral procession in the suburbs of the State Duma, of Damascus in this still image taken of sequences social networking sites downloaded Sunday amateur video. Social media/Reuters

Syrian security forces opened fire on demonstrators of the opposition, on Monday, killing five people, according to witnesses.

Dara, in the South of the country, a witness who spoke of the Associated Press if the anonymity, said army tanks and soldiers moved into the city Monday and could be heard. An eyewitness said he saw five bodies in a car that security forces had attacked.

DARA has been at the centre of protests against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

During this time, in the suburbs of Damascus in the Duma, witnesses said security forces closed the area before opening fire.

The speaks of witnesses to condition their names not be used because of fear of reprisal

Rights groups say that more than 300 people died, including the 112 April 22 only, since the start of anti-Government protests in mid-March.

On Sunday, based in New York from Human Rights Watch has called for an investigation of the United Nations for the Suppression of the Syrian Government against demonstrators.

The group called on the United States and the European Union imposed sanctions Syrian new officials.

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The Thai forces and Cambodian shock to 3rd day

Fighting erupted again Sunday along the border of Cambodia and the Thailand after two days of clashes that killed at least 10 soldiers and forced the evacuation of thousands of civilians.

A Cambodian soldier stands guard in July last to a gateway to the temple of Preah Vihear on the Thai border Cambodia. (Heng Sinith/Associated Press)

The dispute between the neighbours stems from their competing claims over small strips of land along the border, with nationalist political fuelling tensions. Clashes have erupted several times since 2008, when temple of Preah Vihear 11th century Cambodia was granted the status of A World Heritage Thai objections.

The current round of clashes, which began Friday, are the first border skirmishes reported since February, when eight soldiers and civilians have been killed near the temple of Preah Vihear. The latest fighting took place about 160 kilometres west of here.

Colonel Suos Sothea, a commander Cambodian, confirmed evidence that a battle of artillery began at the border shortly before 10: 00 a.m. local time on Sunday. In Bangkok, the Thai army spokesman colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd reports the same information.

There was no immediate reports of victims.

Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, has called for Cambodia and the Thailand to implement an effective and verifiable ceasefire.

A declaration of an end Saturday said ban believes that the dispute cannot be resolved by military means, so the two countries must engage in a serious dialogue to resolve the underlying problems.

Outbreak of Sunday came after it appeared that calm could have been restored. Witnesses on the Cambodian side said an important border post which had been closed for two days was reopened and Thai media said some some 20 000 civilians who had been evacuated from the combat zone began to move to the House.

Each side accused of the departure of the latest fighting, which involved mainly artillery duels long distance to the other.

Thai villagers seek shelter Saturday in a makeshift refugee camp set up in a school about 30 kilometres from the Thai-Cambodia border. Thousands of villagers were evacuated from the region in cross-border hostilities. (Sukree Sukplang/Reuters)

The Thailand dismissed charges Saturday that he had used chemical weapons against the Cambodian troops.

A statement by the Cambodian Defence Ministry charged that the Thailand had shot 75 and 105-mm shells at "loading of the toxic gas" in Cambodian territory, but has no details. A Cambodian field commander said separately that the Thailand had used two shells of cluster - anti-personnel weapons banned by many countries - and the artillery shells that gave a debilitating gas.

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said Thais allegations were not true, and colonel Tawatchai Samutsakorn, Commander of 2nd army region the Thailand, denied that submunitions or toxic gas bombs had been employed by its forces.

Tawatchai said a Thai soldier died Saturday, bringing the victim toll to four dead and 17 injured. Suos Sothea said three Cambodian soldiers were killed Saturday, with victims of Cambodia's two days to six. Suos Sothea said he could not give a precise count of the injured.

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Syrian forces houses raid to suppress demonstrations - Aljazeera.net

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Syrian forces raid homes to quell protests - Middle East - Al Jazeera English .qodLinker{border-width:0px;border-style:none;}.qodLinker img{border-width:0px;border-style:none;} NewsIn DepthProgrammesVideoBlogsBusinessWeatherSportWatch Live AfricaAmericasAsia-PacificCentral & South AsiaEuropeMiddle EastFocusOpinionFeaturesInteractiveSpotlightBriefingsYour ViewsRiz KhanWitnessInside StoryListening PostPeople & PowerThe StreamMore??Counting the CostNewsThe Business Blog??? Middle East Syrian forces raid homes to quell protests Two MPs resign amid reported deaths of 15 people as outrage at government's response to pro-democracy protests spreads. Last Modified: 24 Apr 2011 09:04 Email Print Share Send Feedback

Secret police raided homes near Damascus overnight, rights campaigners said , as popular opposition to President Bashar al-Assad mounted following the bloodiest attacks on pro-democracy protesters in weeks of demonstrations.

Security operatives in plain clothes wielding assault rifles broke into homes in the suburb of Harasta just after midnight on Sunday, arresting activists in the area, known as the Ghouta, or the old garden district of the capital.

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The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday that security forces had arrested dozens of people in raids across the country. It gave the names of 18 men who were arrested in the northern cities of Idlib, Raqqa and Aleppo.

On Sunday, Human Rights Watch, the New York-based rights watchdog, called on the US and European Union to impose sanctions on Syrian officials responsible for the killing, arbitrary detention and?torture of pro-democracy protesters.

"After Friday’s carnage, it is no longer enough to condemn the violence," said Joe Stork, HRW's deputy Middle East director. "Faced with the Syrian authorities' 'shoot to kill' strategy, the international community needs to impose sanctions on those ordering the shooting of protesters."

Legislators resign

Security forces and gunmen loyal to Assad killed at least 112 people in the last two days when they fired at protests demanding political freedoms and an end to corruption on Friday and on mass funerals for victims a day later.

Two Syrian legislators resigned their posts in parliament as outrage grows over the security forces' ongoing crackdown on anti-government protests.

Nasser al-Hariri and Khalil al-Rifaei, independent MPs who represent the?city of Daraa, where scores of protesters have been killed, both separately told Al Jazeera on Saturday that they were resigning over the killings of demonstrators.

"I feel sorry for those who were killed in Houran today and yesterday by the bullets of security forces, despite the fact that the president has promised no live ammunition by security forces at all," al-Hariri said.

He was referring to the deaths of protesters a day earlier, as well as the deaths of mourners killed on Saturday when security forces opened fire at a funeral procession.

"Being an MP I feel the need to step down, as long as I am unable to protect the voters killed by live ammunition and so I feel better to resign," he said.

Al-Rifaei said: "I convey my condolence to the people of Houran and the Syrian people. The Syrian people and the people of Houran voted for me to be a member of parliament and now I can't protect them anymore."

Rezq Abdulrahman Abazeid, the government-appointed mufti for Daraa, which has been a focal point for pro-democracy protests, also resigned on Saturday in protest at the killing of demonstrators by security forces.

At least 15 people were reported killed on Saturday and more than 220 protesters have been killed since?protests against the government of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president,?erupted on March 18 in Daraa, rights campaigners say.

Nasser Weddady, an outreach director at the American Islamic Conference, which promotes civil liberties in the Middle East, said that the resignations on Al Jazeera were a "slap in the face" to al-Assad's government.

"The moment of truth, the day or reckoning, will come when Bashar al-Assad is forced to deploy the military to the cities to quell the protest ... that's when we'll understand how significant these cracks will be if the conscripts and the soldiers start refusing orders or even joining the protesters."

Mourners targeted

Security forces?continued to crack down on tens of thousands of protesters on Saturday, mainly at funerals for demonstrators killed in previous violence, with?120 people thought to have been killed in the last 48 hours.

Map of April 22 'Great Friday' protests across Syria

At least four people were killed in the Damascus suburb of Douma, a witness told Al Jazeera, after security forces on the ground and snipers on rooftops opened fire on a crowd of mourners.

Eyewitness in Douma on Saturday?said that the gunfire erupted during the funeral processions,?a day?after eight people were killed and at least 25 injured in an attack on protesters.

Snipers took up positions on the top of a Baath Party building?near the privately-run Hamdan Hospital, where residents had overnight formed a human shield around the main gate, in order to prevent security forces from arresting those who were injured and being treated inside.

Elsewhere, at least three people were killed in the neighbourhood of Barza at a mass funeral of pro-democracy protesters killed a day earlier.

"We have been receiving many calls from people in different places in Syria. Probably the most dramatic are the ones from the neighbourhood of Barza," Rula Amin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Damascus, said.

"Today, during the funerals, people say the security forces shot at them again ... there is a state of panic.

"They say there are gunmen on the streets and they are randomly shooting at people."

Also on Saturday, Daniel Saud, the head of the rights group the Committees for the Defence of Democracy, Freedoms and Human Rights in Syria, was arrested, according to Khalil Maatouk, his lawyer.

"Security services arrested rights activist Daniel Saud today at his home in Baniyas and took him to an undisclosed location," Maatouk was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.

'Long live Syria'

Outside of the capital, six people are thought to have been killed as security forces opened fire on people seeking to join mass funerals in the southern village of Izraa, where witnesses said at least 12 funerals were taking place.

Click here for more of Al Jazeera's special coverage

Mourners there were heard chanting: "Bashar al-Assad, you traitor! Long live Syria, down with Bashar!"

A special correspondent for Al Jazeera, reporting from just outside Izraa and who cannot be named for security reasons, confirmed that he had witnessed a funeral procession being fired upon.

"[People marching on an overpass] were met with a hail of gunfire, many people certainly wounded directly in front of us, cars turned around, and I can tell you it was an incredibly chaotic scene, and it seems as though pretty much everyone down here in the southern part of the country is now carrying weapons," he said.

"It is unclear who was firing at whom, that's part of the confusion ... but clearly a very violent incident now being carried out here in the south of the country."

Syrian state television has reported that the security forces are responding to clashes between the protesters and supporters of the government.

State media says that most of the killings have been the result of these clashes.

Condemnation

World powers have called on Syria to end the violence, with Barack Obama, the US president,?telling Syria its crackdown on protesters "must come to an end now".

"This outrageous use of violence to quell protests must come to an end now," Obama said.

"Instead of listening to their own people, President Assad is blaming outsiders while seeking Iranian assistance in repressing Syria's citizens through the same brutal tactics that have been used by his Iranian allies."

Syria responded angrily to Obama's comments, saying they lacked objectivity.

"Syria regrets the statement released by the American president on the subject of the situation in Syria, because it is not based on an objective vision of the reality on the ground," an unidentified official was quoted by the state-run SANA news agency as saying.

The latest security crackdowns follow widespread?demonstrations on Friday that have been termed the "Great Friday" protests. The day was also?the bloodiest so far.

Amnesty International, the London-based human rights group, said that at least 75 people were killed in the government's crackdown on Friday.

Syrian activists sent Al Jazeera a list naming 103 people from across the country who they said had been killed by security forces?on Friday.

Al-Assad appeared to make some concession to the protesters on?Thursday, signing a decree that lifted Syria's emergency law,?but the move is seen by the opposition as little more than symbolic, since other laws still give entrenched security forces wide powers.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies Email Print Share Send Feedback Topics in this articlePeopleBashar al AssadCal PerryJoe StorkCountrySyriaIsraelCityDamascusDaraaHomsOrganisationBaath PartyAssad's Baath Party Featured on Al Jazeera Libya's postponed democracy Larbi Sadiki examines the liberation movements in Libya, both internal and external, and how they benefit civic life. Goldstone breathes new life into Gaza report The Goldstone Report fails to justly present the facts about Israel's war crimes in Gaza. The shield of innocence The laws of war were designed for traditional conflicts between European standing armies, not insurgencies. Recognising Palestine? The efforts of the Palestinian Authority to push for statehood are nothing more than an elaborate farce, writer says.

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