AMMAN, May 28 (Reuters/AFP) - Syrian security forces shot dead eight people on Friday, rights campaigners said, as protesters defied a nationwide crackdown by President Bashar al-Assad.
Rights groups estimate at least 1,000 people have been killed over 10 weeks. Leaders at a Group of Eight meeting in France said they were “appalled” at the killing of peaceful protesters, demanding an immediate end to the use of force.
On Friday, campaigners said three protesters were killed in the central city of Homs, another three in the Damascus suburb of Qatana, one in the town of Zabadani near the border with Lebanon, and one in the northwestern province of Idlib.
Troops also fired at protesters calling for the “overthrow of the regime” in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor, a human rights group and residents said. Demonstrators later staged a night rally in a city square, a witness said.
Meanwhile, a Washington-datelined AFP story quoted Washington Post as saying that Iran was sending trainers and advisers to Syria to help crush anti-government demonstrations threatening to topple Iran's most important ally in the region.
The influx of Iranian manpower was adding to a steady stream of aid from Tehran, the newspaper said, citing unnamed US officials.
That aid includes not only weapons and riot gear but also sophisticated surveillance equipment that is helping Syrian authorities track down opponents through their Facebook and Twitter accounts, the sources said.
Iranian-assisted computer surveillance is believed to have led to the arrests of hundreds of Syrians seized from their homes in recent weeks, the paper said. |
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