Syrian armoured reinforcements in Daraa, shooting: militant

Activist Abdullah Al-Harriri told AFP in Nicosia by telephone: "Hundreds of security service men entered the town, accompanied by tanks and armoured vehicles.

"The men are firing in all directions and advancing behind the armour which is protecting them," he added.

"Electricity is cut off and telephone communications are virtually impossible," he said.
The current protests against the regime started in Daraa where dozens of Syrians have been killed in the violent repression of demonstrations by the security forces.

On Sunday thousands of residents of Daraa province buried several victims of the repression after prayers.

A demonstration followed, but the security forces did not intervene, a militant said. Asking to remain anonymous, he said the protesters brandished Syrian flags and placards calling for "suppression of Article 8 of the constitution" on supremacy of the sole Baath Party.
Most shops stayed closed in a sign of mourning.

Despite a relative lull, four people were shot dead and several others wounded yesterday in the Mediterranean town of Jableh, near the port city of Latakia in the northwest, after a wave of arrests in the past few days of militants opposed to Bashar al-Assad's regime.

At least 352 people have been killed in Syria since protests began on March 15, according to figures compiled by AFP.

And Wissam Tarif, executive director of Insan human rights group, said that at their last update Friday there were 221 "forcefully disappeared people" in Syria.