Syrian security forces kill 16 civilians

Regime forces killed at 16 civilians in Syria on Saturday, as they shelled a rebel stronghold for the 22nd straight day and opened fire in Hama and Aleppo, where thousands were rallying, monitors said.

The shelling of the neighbourhood of Baba Amr began at first light, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, as sporadic explosions were heard in other areas of the central city.

Four civilians were killed in Baba Amr and other Homs neighbourhoods, as security forces also opened fire on the neighbourhoods of Khaldiyeh and Hamidiyeh, in the city centre, the Britain-based Observatory said.

Opposition group Local Coordination Committees said security forces fired mortars at Khaldiyeh.

Meanwhile, security forces shot dead six people, including a woman and a girl, as they clashed with defected troops in the Aleppo provincial town of Ezaz, the Observatory said.

Police also opened fire to disperse a demonstration of some 4,000 people who took to the street in the neighbourhood of Sayef al-Dawla, in Aleppo, for the funeral of a civilian killed on Friday, the Observatory said.

A local activist, who requested anonymity, also told AFP that thousands were taking part in the protest.
No casualties were reported so far.

Six civilians, including two girls, died when troops stormed the villages of Maarazaf and Al-Majdel, in the central province of Hama, the Observatory said.

At least 53 people were killed on Friday, as forces loyal to embattled President Bashar al-Assad bombarded Baba Amr, attacked villages and opened fire on demonstrators, as tens of thousands rallied across the country.

Twenty-two people were killed in Baba Amr itself, the Observatory said.

Red Cross and Red Crescent ambulances had entered the besieged district of Baba Amr on Friday and evacuated seven wounded Syrians, as well as 20 women and children.

But the ambulances did not evacuate two wounded Western journalists and the bodies of two others, according to Saleh Dabbakeh, the Damascus spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross.

More than 7,600 people have been killed in violence across Syria since anti-regime protests erupted in March 2011.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.