Syrian Government Forces Continue Crackdown

June 25, 2011

A Syrian refugee protects himself against the hot weather by wearing a plastic bowl on his head as he walks in a newly opened camp in Reyhanli, Turkey, June 24, 2011.

A video on Facebook shows young protesters fleeing through a narrow street in the Damascus suburb of Kaswa Saturday as security forces storm the area. Witnesses say government tanks surrounded much of Kaswa, blocking it off from other regions. Dozens of protesters were also reportedly arrested in both Kaswa and the Barzeh neighborhood of Damascus.

Arab satellite channels showed video of thousands of mourners marching down a main avenue in Kaswa Saturday, carrying the coffins of three young men killed during Friday's protests.

A woman dressed in black screamed and shouted insults at the government as she hovered over the dead body of her thirteen-year-old son. A video on Facebook says that he was shot and killed by security forces in Kaswa Friday.

Syrian government TV claims that "armed gangs fired on security forces in Kaswa" Friday, wounding several. It added that 7 civilians and security forces were killed during the protests.

Syrian TV repeated a list of charges against protesters, claiming they "attacked fire trucks, blocked roads, threw stones, and shot at security forces." A man in the town of Jisr al-Shaghour also claimed that "armed gangs were preventing refugees from returning home from Turkey."