Syria: 16 dead on Thursday, 2 already on Friday

Fridays are normally days of protests and the government has widened its crackdown ahead of what is assumed will be another day of confrontation. – With foreign media banned from the country, news outlets are relying on Syrian activists who are in the thick of things for news of events on the ground. – Mass protests are anticipated after Friday prayers and troops have already carried out pre-emptive strikes in an attempt to quell the coming demonstrations.

Dawn raids left a woman dead after tanks and soldiers launched an assault in Khan Sheikhon in the northern province of Idlib. A man was also shot and killed after fleeing security forces in the town of Saqba, a suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus. News is that 16 people were killed across Syria on Thursday.

Various newspapers are writing that activists have set a theme for today’s protests in Syria as “We Only Kneel Before God.” Funerals of slain activists are taking place every day in the country. Despite this holy month of Ramadan, the Assad government continues its attacks on protesters with estimates placing the number of dead in almost 300 since July 31 when government troops first stormed the city of Hama.

Published on Aug 11, 2011 by Euronews

Reports of more deaths in Syria

The crackdown on dissent in Syria continues, with at least 14 more deaths reported, 11 of them killed by troops who stormed a town near the Lebanese border. One human rights activist reported several tanks had entered the town of Quosseir, prompting local people to flee across fields. Deaths have been reported in the suburbs of Damascus, and in Homs. In one video made available on the web, a man claiming to be an army deserter condemned what he called massacres in Deir el Zour and Hama, and called on soldiers to follow his example.

References

Oye! Times – Aug 10/2011

Syria: no end to the killing (videos)

Wikipedia: Timeline of the 2011 Syrian uprising: August 11

A resident of Saraqeb, a town near the Turkish border, reported that over 60 vehicles, about 14 of which were reportedly tanks or APCs, entered the town. According to the report, Syrian soldiers began firing randomly and detaining residents en masse. The opposition Local Co-ordination Committees corroborated the report. In Qusayr in Homs Governorate, eleven people were reported killed as the army stormed the town. Two more residents of Hama were killed, according to Avaaz. The town of al-Mousaifara was the site of military operations at dawn. The army also shelled at least two neighbourhoods in Deir ez-Zour, Avaaz reported.

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