Syrian protesters flee from gunfire captured on video

Amateur footage taken on Good Friday purports to show Syrian security forces in the city of Homs opening fire on anti-government protesters.

In the video protesters can be seen fleeing after gunfire halts their demonstration against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad. Two men, apparently shot, are carried off by the crowds as they retreat.

The clip is alleged to have been filmed on the bloodiest day yet in the five-week uprising against the Syrian leader.

Mr Assad had responded to growing popular pressure by lifting Syria’s draconian 1962 emergency laws. But the president’s apparently conciliatory gesture failed to signal a softening of the regime’s determination to crush dissent.

Across the country, protesters spilling out of mosques on Friday were met with live ammunition, sometimes within minutes of prayers ending.

In Damascus, the capital, and towns and cities to the east, west and south, every attempt to challenge the regime was met with the same remorseless vengeance. (read more)