At Least 22 Dead in Syria Protests as Troops Raid Jisr al-Shughour

Syrian troops launched Friday a long-feared crackdown in the northwestern town of Jisr al-Shughour, as at least 22 civilians were shot dead by security forces when thousands of pro-democracy protesters took to the streets across Syria under the slogan "Friday of the Tribes."

Protesters poured on to the streets of main towns and cities after the weekly Muslim main prayers, many chanting slogans against President Bashar al-Assad and in support of residents of Jisr al-Shughour.

Security forces shot dead at least 22 anti-regime protesters, including 11 in the northwest, rights activists said.

In the town of Maaret al-Numan in Idlib province, security forces fired on a large crowd and killed at least 11 people, the activists said.

State television reported that "intense fire by groups of armed terrorists on a security headquarters caused dead and wounded among the police and security forces" in the town.

Six people were also killed in the port city of Latakia, said Rami Abdul Rahman, head of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

He said another two were killed in the Bosra al-Harir area of southern Daraa province, an epicenter of pro-democracy protests that have shaken Syria since mid-March.

State television said "armed men" fired at security forces in Bosra al-Harir, killing a security force member and a civilian.

Activists said earlier that three civilians were killed in the Damascus suburb of al-Qaboun.

Opposition-affiliated Sham News Network, meanwhile, reported rallies in the capital's districts of al-Midan, al-Zahra, Rukneddine, al-Takiyeh al-Sulaimniyeh, al-Muhajirin, Nahr Aisha, Daff al-Shouk, as well as the suburbs of Harasta, Barzeh, Artouz, al-Kiswah, al-Qaboun, Daraya, al-Qadam, al-Zabadani, Qatana, al-Maadamiya, al-Damir, Zamalka, Kanaker, al-Qalamoun, Qarra, al-Hajar al-Aswad, Douma, Jobar, Arbin, Dummar Project and al-Tal.

In north Syria, more than 8,000 protesters marched through three Kurdish towns to demand political reform and in solidarity with the town of Jisr al-Shughour, said another activist, Hassan Berro.

"With our blood and our soul, we sacrifice ourselves for Jisr al-Shughour," the demonstrators chanted in Ras al-Ain on the border with Turkey. Protests were also taking place in Qamishli and Amuda.

The Syrian Observatory said other protests were held and gunshots heard in the city of Homs, north of Damascus.

Security forces kept away as a crowd of more than 7,000 converged on Al-Assi Square, in the city of Hama, further north, where at least 60 civilians were killed on June 3, the group said, citing local residents.

Protests were also reported on Friday in Dael, a town in Daraa province which gave birth to Syria's anti-regime movement in mid-March.

The Syrian opposition called for the renewed protests under the slogan "Friday of the Tribes."

More than 1,100 civilians, including dozens of children, have been killed in a government crackdown over the past three months, according to human rights groups.

Damascus blames the unrest on "armed terrorist gangs" which it says are backed by Islamists and foreign agitators.

"Army units have started their mission to control Jisr al-Shughour and neighboring villages and arrest the armed gangs," state television said, adding that the raid on the town had been launched "at the request of residents."

One witness told Agence France Presse that "military forces bombarded the villages around Jisr al-Shughour in their advance on the town."

"Soldiers torched wheat fields in the village of al-Ziyara," 15 kilometers southeast of Jisr al-Shughour, he said.

Rights activists said that most of the 50,000 inhabitants of Jisr al-Shughour had fled -- many to neighboring Turkey -- when tanks and troops began midweek converging on the northwestern town and that it was now largely deserted.

Syrian state television blamed "armed terrorist gangs" on Wednesday as it ran images of the "massacres" in Jisr al-Shughour which it said had resulted in the deaths of 120 police and troops on Monday.

But opposition activists say the deaths resulted from a mutiny by troops who refused orders to crack down on protesters.