Thousands defy crackdown, shout for freedom in Daraa

Daraa: Thousands called for liberty yesterday in the southern Syrian city of Daraa, defying a deadly government crackdown as they took to the streets in funeral marches for protesters killed by police gunfire, an activist said.

Media access to the marches was restricted but an Associated Press reporter heard sporadic bursts of gunfire echoing through the city in the afternoon. Almost all shops were shuttered, the streets were virtually empty and soldiers and anti-terrorism police stopped people at checkpoints and manned many intersections — the heaviest security presence since the unrest began.

The activist in contact with residents of Daraa told The Associated Press that massive crowds shouted "Syria, freedom!" as they marched toward one of the main cemeteries.

Others in Daraa held a sit-in in the Al Mahata neighbourhood to protest the killing of residents in clashes between security forces and anti-government protesters, the activist said.

Syrian police launched a relentless assault on Wednesday on a neighbourhood sheltering anti-government protesters, fatally shooting many in an operation that lasted nearly 24 hours, witnesses said.

A resident of Daraa who was reached by phone from Damascus said witnesses there reported seeing at least 34 people slain.

He said at least 20 bodies were brought to Daraa National Hospital, and seven others taken to hospitals in neighbouring areas.

In the early evening, people from the nearby villages of Inkhil, Khirbet Ghazale and Al Harrah tried to march on Daraa but security forces opened fire and hit them with rifle butts as they approached. The resident said seven more were killed in that shooting. Hundreds were wounded, he said.

The resident spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Bloody day

"It was a very difficult, bloody day," he said. "There is a state of undeclared curfew in Daraa, whenever troops see four or five more people gathered they open fire," he said.

Presidential adviser Buthaina Shaaban told reporters that 10 people were killed on Wednesday in what she called an attempt to target Syria because it supports resistance against Israel. "What is being targeted is Syria's position, Syria's security and ability to be a pillar of resistance against Zionism and US schemes," she said.

"Abdul Karim Rihawi, who heads the Syrian Human Rights League, said authorities had begun a campaign of detentions against activists, writers and bloggers in different parts of Syria.

Rihawi said the last to be detained was Mazen Darwish, a journalist who headed the independent Syrian Media Centre. Also detained were well-known writer Loay Hussain and blogger Ahmad Hdaithi.