3 Dead, 9 Hurt as Syrian Security Forces Storm Idlib Town

Syrian security forces on Sunday shot dead two people and wounded nine others in the northwestern province of Idlib, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"Two people were killed and another nine wounded in the Khan Sheikhoun area near Idlib (city) during an incursion by security forces and the army," Observatory head Rami Abdul Rahman told Agence France Presse by telephone.

He said that some 10 tanks and security forces with automatic weapons opened fire at residents.

The Local Coordination Committees, which group activists on the ground, also reported the deaths in Idlib.

Meanwhile, security forces shot dead a demonstrator in the southern town of Inkhel during a protest at a funeral for 14-year-old Sultan al-Farwan who died after having been wounded two weeks ago.

Security forces also killed two people overnight in the Damascus suburb of Harasta as a crowd of some 2,500 tried to march toward the capital, the Syrian Observatory said.

And SANA reported that "gunmen" killed a traffic policeman in the flashpoint central city of Homs.

The Syrian Revolution 2011, a key driver of the protests, called for prayers in cities around the world on Sunday "in churches and in mosques for the martyrs of freedom," in a message on Facebook.

But the Syrian authorities, in a statement carried by SANA, warned protesters to stay away from demonstrations in the capital being urged on Facebook.

"The interior ministry asks citizens not to respond to calls on social networks to take part in demonstrations and gatherings in the principal squares of Damascus, for their own safety," it said.

The Observatory said on Sunday that Saudi Arabia has freed 164 Syrians arrested when they rallied in Riyadh to welcome Saudi King Abdullah's decision to recall his ambassador from Damascus over Assad's crackdown.

"Saudi authorities have released 164 Syrian citizens who were arrested by the security services in Riyadh on August 12," it said.