34 Killed In Syrian Crackdown

The Guardian reports:

Thousands of Syrians have defied a crackdown by their government to take to the streets in Deraa in funeral marches for protesters killed by police gunfire, it has been reported.

Media access to the marches was restricted but sporadic bursts of gunfire could be heard echoing through the city on Thursday afternoon.

Shops were shuttered and streets were near empty as soldiers and anti-terrorism police stopped people at checkpoints. The security presence was at its heaviest level since the unrest began.

An activist told AP that massive crowds shouted "Syria, freedom!" as they marched towards a cemetery.

Others in Deraa held a sit-in in the al-Mahata area to protest about the killing of residents in clashes with security forces.

Inspired by the wave of pro-democracy protests around the region, the uprising in Deraa and nearby villages has become the biggest domestic challenge since the 1970s to the Syrian government, one of the most repressive in the Middle East.

Authorities have responded with water cannon, tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition.

Police launched a relentless assault on Wednesday on an area sheltering anti-government protesters, shooting many dead in an operation that lasted nearly 24 hours, witnesses said.

A resident of Deraa said that at least 34 people had reportedly been killed, with 20 or more bodies brought to Deraa national hospital and others taken elsewhere.

On Wednesday evening, residents of the nearby villages of Inkhil, Khirbet, Ghazale and al-Harrah tried to march on Deraa but security forces opened fire and hit them with rifle butts as they approached.

"It was a very difficult, bloody day," said the resident, who asked to remain anonymous. "There is a state of undeclared curfew in Deraa – whenever troops see four or five more people gathered they open fire.

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