Syrian protesters braved renewed bloodshed and an unprecedented security presence across the country as they marched in their tens of thousands to denounce their increasingly intransigent president.
Opposition activists claimed that as many as 25 people were killed as violence flared across the country despite Bashar al-Assad' attempts to suffocate the widening insurrection against his 11-year rule through sheer force of numbers as part of a plan to terrify his restive people into staying at home.
But the campaign of intimidation, designed to terrify people into remaining at home, was only partially successful. Fewer responded to calls to take to the streets in the numbers organisers might have hoped, but the number still willing to risk the wrath of a regime that had threatened to show no mercy will be deeply troubling for Mr Assad.
Amateur video footage from the town of Douma, 10 miles north of the Syrian capital Damascus, showed unarmed civilians fleeing down a street as gunfire crackled nearby.
Residents said the shots were fired by plainclothes civilians, possibly members of an unofficial militia controlled by members of the Assad family, who had earlier broken down the doors of houses to take up sniper positions on rooftops and balconies.
Witnesses said between four and 15 people in Douma were killed. Another 10 were said to have been killed as thousands of protesters marching between the villages of Erikel and Sanamayn came under fire. (read more)
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