BBC News with Fiona MacDonald
The authorities in Syria have been struggling to
contain
a new wave of anti-government demonstrations across the country. Opposition groups said security forces had opened fire on crowds in several areas, including the capital Damascus. At least 28 people are reported to have been killed nationally, 10 of them in the northern town of Maarat al-Numan. Helicopter gunships are said to have attacked protesters there after a police station and [a] court building were set on fire.
Opposition activists said Syrian troops had
adopt
ed a scorched earth policy in Jisr al-Shughour. Jim Muir is monitoring events from neighbouring Lebanon.
Both the state media and activists on the ground are reporting that troops and tanks are pressing in around Jisr al-Shughour. Shooting was reported from some of the nearby villages, where barricades of burning tyres have been
put up
to try to block the advance. The town itself is believed to be
largely
deserted after many of its inhabitants fled the
impending
crackdown, some of them crossing the border to nearby Turkey. Meanwhile, there are reports of many big protest demonstrations in
practically
all parts of the country.
The authorities in Somalia say the Interior Minister Abdi Shakur Sheikh Hassan has been killed in a suicide attack on his home. Our East Africa correspondent Will Ross reports.