Syria: At Least 36 Killed In Clashes
Syrians on Friday took to the streets including in the “capital of revolt” Homs. At least 36 people were killed in clashes with security forces, most of them in Homs.
Opposition activists had called on citizens to take to the streets in support of a “dignity strike… which will lead to the sudden death of this tyrant regime.”
Ahead of the demonstrations, the opposition Syrian National Council warned of a bloody final assault on Homs using the pretext of what the regime had called a “terrorist” attack on an oil pipeline. “The regime (is) paving the way to commit a massacre in order to extinguish the revolution in Homs,” said the SNC, according to AFP.
“The regime has tried hard to ignite the sectarian conflict using many dirty methods, which have included bombing and burning mosques, torturing and killing young men, and kidnapping women and children,” said the SNC.
“The regime also took a significant step… in burning oil pipelines in the neighbourhood of Baba Amr to blame what the regime calls ‘armed gangs’; in an attempt to crush the peaceful uprising on the pretext of a war on terrorism.”
The regime’s crackdown has killed a total of more than 4,000 people in Syria since mid-March, according to UN figures. Over 1,700 were killed in Homs.
