At least 45 people were killed on Sunday when the army launched an attack on the flashpoint protest city of Hama in central Syria, a human rights activist said.
“The army and security forces entered Hama this morning and opened fire on civilians, killing 45 and wounding several more,” Rami Abdel Rahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said by telephone.
One Hama resident reached by phone told AFP that the army entered the city at around 6:00 am (0300 GMT).
Another said: “Five tanks are now deployed outside the governor’s palace,” and spoke of intermittent gunfire, while a third resident reported seeing four BTR-type armoured personnel carriers.
Elsewhere, “six people were killed and 50 wounded by security forces in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor and three were killed and dozens wounded at Harak in the southern Deraa region,” Abdel Rahman said.
