Syrian protesters defy Assad government; 42 killed
30 April, Yahoo News
BEIRUT Thousands of defiant Syrians chanting “We are not afraid!”
were met by security forces firing bullets and tear gas Friday in a
crackdown on nationwide protests that left 42 people dead — many of them
villagers trying to break an army blockade of the southern city where
the six-week uprising began.
President Bashar Assad again unleashed deadly force in a determined
effort to crush the revolt, the gravest challenge to his family’s
40-year ruling dynasty.
Although still in control, he will struggle to recover legitimacy at
home and abroad if he manages to stay in power. The United States
slapped three top officials in his regime — including his brother — with
sanctions and nations agreed to launch a U.N.-led investigation of
Syria’s crackdown.
Human rights groups say about 500 people have been killed since the
uprising began.
Many of the 42 people killed Friday were in Daraa, said human rights
activist Mustafa Osso, whose Syria-based group compiles casualty lists
from the crackdown. He told The Associated Press that the death toll
could rise,
Thousands of people from the outskirts of Daraa tried to break the
military siege on the town Friday, but security forces opened fire,
witnesses and human rights groups said.
A witness in Daraa said residents stayed indoors because the city has
been under siege by the military since Monday, when thousands of
soldiers backed by tanks and snipers stormed in. People were too afraid
even to venture out to mosques for prayers, the witness said.
“We are in our houses but our hearts are in the mosques,” the witness
said, speaking by satellite telephone and asking that his name not be
used for fear of reprisals.
A devastating picture was emerging of Daraa — which has been without
electricity, water and telephones since Monday — as residents fled to
neighboring countries. The uprising began in Daraa in mid-March, sparked
by the arrest of teenagers who scrawled anti-regime graffiti on a wall.
“Nobody can move in (Daraa). They have snipers on the high roofs,” a
resident told the AP using a satellite phone. “They are firing at
everything.”
At the Jordanian side of the Syrian border, several Daraa residents
who had just crossed said there is blood on the streets of the city.
“Gunfire is heard across the city all the time,” one man said, asking
that his name not be used for fear of retribution. “People are getting
killed in the streets by snipers if they leave their homes.”An AP
reporter at the border heard gunfire and saw smoke rising from different
areas just across the frontier. Residents said the shooting has been
constant for three weeks. Syria has banned nearly all foreign media and
restricted access to trouble spots, making it almost impossible to
verify the dramatic events shaking one of the most authoritarian,
anti-Western regimes in the Arab world. Large demonstrations were
reported Friday in the capital of Damascus, the central city of Homs,
the coastal cities of Banias and Latakia, the northern cities of Raqqa
and Hama, and the northeastern town of Qamishli near the Turkish border.
Outside Homs, thousands chanted “We don’t love you!” and “Bye-bye,
Bashar! We will see you in The Hague!” as the sound of gunfire crackled
in the distance. In Damascus’ central Midan neighborhood, witnesses said
about 2,000 people marched and chanted, “God, Syria and freedom only!”
in a heavy rain, but security forces opened fire with bullets and tear
gas, scattering them.
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