Syrian security forces killed at least 20 people on Friday as they pursued a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters after activists called for a no-fly zone to protect civilians and soldiers deserting the army, a rights group said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the fatalities were in the protest hubs of Hama, in the north, and Homs in the centre, and that security forces encircled mosques and made arrests before and after weekly Muslim prayers. “Eight civilians were killed in various neighbourhoods of Hama, 11 others in the city of Homs and one civilian was killed in Qusayr, in the region of Homs,” the Observatory said in a statement in Nicosia.
People in the northwestern town also marched “in support of besieged cities,” said the Britain-based watchdog, adding that security forces also opened “heavy fire” and arrested five people. That call was echoed in Homs, the focus of military raids in recent weeks, where demonstrators came out in “most of the city’s neighbourhoods,” the Observatory said. Several protests rocked Homs as worshippers emerged from midday Muslim prayers. Around 20,000 people marched, calling for the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s autocratic regime, the Observatory said.
Meanwhile, activists said heavy gunfire and five explosions were heard in Qusayr, a restive town near the Lebanese border, where security forces sought to break up demonstrators streaming out of several mosques. Clashes were also reported in Hama between suspected army defectors and members of the regular army and the security forces. In Maaret al-Numan, also in Idlib, the funeral of a soldier who defected and was shot dead on Thursday by security forces turned into a rally demanding the fall of Assad’s regime, and demonstrators further east in Deir Ezzor also came under fire as they streamed out of mosques.
The latest bloodletting comes as activists called for nationwide protests on Friday to demand the imposition of a no-fly zone over Syria to protect civilians and to encourage soldiers to defect. “We call on the international community to impose a no-fly zone so that the Syrian Free Army can function with greater freedom,” said the Syrian Revolution 2011 on its Facebook page. A UN-mandated no-fly zone was imposed over Libya to protect civilians as fighting raged to oust the regime of ex-dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
