Saturday, April 23, 2011

'Nine killed' at Syria funeral processions

Security forces open fire on processions for pro-democracy activists killed on Friday, killing several, witnesses say.

Al-Jazeera



"With the government severely restricting press freedoms, getting images and footage of protests in Syria has been difficult.

Al Jazeera obtained this dramatic footage from one of Friday's demonstrations - this one in Harasta, where security forces appeared to open fire on protesters, just as they had done in several other cities and towns in a crackdown that claimed at least 75 lives."

"Four people have been killed in the Syrian town of Douma, a witness told Al Jazeera, after security forces on the ground and snipers on rooftops opened fire on a crowd of thousands of mourners gathered to bury protesters killed on Friday.

Army and security personnel also shot at mourners at a funeral procession in the southern town of Izraa. Eyewitnesses told Al Jazeera that five people had been killed there, four of them after having been shot in the chest. Several others were wounded.

The eyewitness in Douma said that the gunfire erupted during the processions on Saturday, in the largest of the towns that surround Damascus to the northeast. Eight people were killed and at least 25 injured in Douma when security forces fired upon pro-democracy protesters on Friday.....

Funerals turn into protests

Thousands of people gathered near the Osman Ibin Afan mosque in Izraa, a southern village that was the scene of some of the worst violence on Friday. At least 15 people were killed there.

During Saturday's funerals, army and security personnel shot at the mourners, killing five people and wounding several others, said an eyewitness present at the funerals.

"I saw four of the dead myself. They had been shot in the chest," he said.

Al Jazeera's correspondent, who we cannot name for security reasons, was just outside Izraa, and confirmed that he had witnessed a funeral procession being fired upon....."

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