Deraa (Writing / AP) .- The main hospital in the town of Dera Syria in the south of the country, has received the bodies of at least 25 protesters died in clashes with security forces, said Thursday a member of staff doctor. Security forces opened fire on hundreds of young people in the north entrance of Deraa on Wednesday afternoon, witnesses said, in a dramatic escalation after nearly a week of protests that have killed at least 32 civilians on Friday, reports Reuters .
"We receive at five late yesterday. All had bullet wounds," he told Reuters the official, who declined to be identified. On Thursday, soldiers with AK-47 through the streets of the city. Secret police and special police units in black have been more visible in Deraa since protests began last Friday.
The Army has so far assumed a secondary role, mainly managing checkpoints, when faced with the demonstrations, which began last week in the agricultural heartland of Syria, demanding political freedoms and an end to corruption. Witnesses said hundreds of soldiers patrolled the main streets of Deraa amid a heavy storm, and dozens of them guarding intersections to avoid public gatherings.
In a major highway near Dera saw convoys of trucks with up to 2,000 soldiers heading to the city on Wednesday night. The ruling Baath party have a history of violent repression against the opposition in his 48 years in power. In 1982, the father of President Bashar al-Assad, Hafez al-Assad sent troops to the conservative religious city of Hama to crush the armed wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, causing thousands of deaths.
Alawi of Syria's rulers lead a Sunni majority country. Protesters in Deraa, a mainly Sunni town, they shouted slogans against the government's alliance with Shiite Iran, breaking a taboo on criticism of Syrian foreign policy. Deraa missing relatives after the attack by security forces on Wednesday were trying to figure out what had happened, said residents of the city.
"People are still hysterical. Do not know if their sons are alive or dead. Nobody knows yet how many people have died. They may be dozens," said one. "I counted six bodies near the Plaza on October 26 at 3:30 pm yesterday," said a resident of Dera who declined to be identified for fear of being traced and arrested.
There were unconfirmed reports that dozens more bodies had been taken to hospital in Tafas outside the city, they added. Deraa, at the Jordanian border, has been a traditional stronghold of the Baath Party, but in recent days has become a focus of unprecedented protests against President Assad.
Asad, a close ally of Iran, with an important role in neighboring Lebanon and support of extremist groups opposed to Israel, has rejected growing demands for reform in Syria, a country of 20 million people led by the Baath Party from a stroke State in 1963. 
"We receive at five late yesterday. All had bullet wounds," he told Reuters the official, who declined to be identified. On Thursday, soldiers with AK-47 through the streets of the city. Secret police and special police units in black have been more visible in Deraa since protests began last Friday.
The Army has so far assumed a secondary role, mainly managing checkpoints, when faced with the demonstrations, which began last week in the agricultural heartland of Syria, demanding political freedoms and an end to corruption. Witnesses said hundreds of soldiers patrolled the main streets of Deraa amid a heavy storm, and dozens of them guarding intersections to avoid public gatherings.
In a major highway near Dera saw convoys of trucks with up to 2,000 soldiers heading to the city on Wednesday night. The ruling Baath party have a history of violent repression against the opposition in his 48 years in power. In 1982, the father of President Bashar al-Assad, Hafez al-Assad sent troops to the conservative religious city of Hama to crush the armed wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, causing thousands of deaths.
Alawi of Syria's rulers lead a Sunni majority country. Protesters in Deraa, a mainly Sunni town, they shouted slogans against the government's alliance with Shiite Iran, breaking a taboo on criticism of Syrian foreign policy. Deraa missing relatives after the attack by security forces on Wednesday were trying to figure out what had happened, said residents of the city.
"People are still hysterical. Do not know if their sons are alive or dead. Nobody knows yet how many people have died. They may be dozens," said one. "I counted six bodies near the Plaza on October 26 at 3:30 pm yesterday," said a resident of Dera who declined to be identified for fear of being traced and arrested.
There were unconfirmed reports that dozens more bodies had been taken to hospital in Tafas outside the city, they added. Deraa, at the Jordanian border, has been a traditional stronghold of the Baath Party, but in recent days has become a focus of unprecedented protests against President Assad.
Asad, a close ally of Iran, with an important role in neighboring Lebanon and support of extremist groups opposed to Israel, has rejected growing demands for reform in Syria, a country of 20 million people led by the Baath Party from a stroke State in 1963.
- Syrian forces open fire at protesters in Deraa (23/03/2011)
- Syria Pledges Political Reform After 20,000 Mass in Deraa (24/03/2011)
- At Least 15 Killed in Syrian Protests (24/03/2011)
- Syrian Forces Fire Upon Protesters (24/03/2011)
- Shots fired as Syrians defy crackdown to march at funerals of slain protesters (24/03/2011)
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