More than twenty people were killed on Friday during clashes with security forces in different parts of Syria. The highest number of fatalities occurred in the town of Sanamein, about 50 miles Deraa, when police fired on people in an attempt to disperse a demonstration. Three other people died late in the afternoon in Damascus in the clashes that took place in a mass demonstration to denounce the violence in other parts of the country.
While he acknowledged that could not independently verify the number of victims, the television channel Al Jazeera, quoting witnesses, said a dozen people had died in Sanamein. Al Jazeera also reported the death of a protester in the southern city of Dera, near the border with Jordan. A witness consulted by telephone by Al Jazeera Sanamein said police fired on protesters who were engaged in a peaceful march in solidarity with the victims of Deraa, where in recent days have killed dozens of opposition activists.
According to this witness, in that shootout killed at least fifteen people, but another witness consulted by the same chain rose to twenty dead and wounded were said about sixty. Deraa, about 100 kilometers south of Damascus, was the venue of a peaceful demonstration attended by thousands of people and in which tribute was paid to the opposition activists died in that city in recent days.
Dozens of people have died in Deraa in the last seven days, especially last Wednesday, by clashes between opposition demonstrators and police. Friday's protest unfolded peacefully until mid-afternoon several people destroyed a statue of President Hafez al-Assad, father of current president, Bashar al-Assad, which led to a clash with security forces.
A spokeswoman for the Syrian Information Ministry, Reem Haddad told Al Jazeera that the police have orders not to fire on protesters as long as the protests are peaceful. But he said that such demonstrators can be "armed groups" involved in unleashing a clash with police. 
While he acknowledged that could not independently verify the number of victims, the television channel Al Jazeera, quoting witnesses, said a dozen people had died in Sanamein. Al Jazeera also reported the death of a protester in the southern city of Dera, near the border with Jordan. A witness consulted by telephone by Al Jazeera Sanamein said police fired on protesters who were engaged in a peaceful march in solidarity with the victims of Deraa, where in recent days have killed dozens of opposition activists.
According to this witness, in that shootout killed at least fifteen people, but another witness consulted by the same chain rose to twenty dead and wounded were said about sixty. Deraa, about 100 kilometers south of Damascus, was the venue of a peaceful demonstration attended by thousands of people and in which tribute was paid to the opposition activists died in that city in recent days.
Dozens of people have died in Deraa in the last seven days, especially last Wednesday, by clashes between opposition demonstrators and police. Friday's protest unfolded peacefully until mid-afternoon several people destroyed a statue of President Hafez al-Assad, father of current president, Bashar al-Assad, which led to a clash with security forces.
A spokeswoman for the Syrian Information Ministry, Reem Haddad told Al Jazeera that the police have orders not to fire on protesters as long as the protests are peaceful. But he said that such demonstrators can be "armed groups" involved in unleashing a clash with police.
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