Gunfire as Syrian troops move into Deraa

Hundreds of soldiers move into flashpoint town, as Syrian intellectuals denounce continuing violence against protesters. Last Modified: 25 Apr 2011 06:12

Footage posted on YouTube appears to show Syrian troops in Deraa province but Al Jazeera cannot verify its veracity Hundreds of Syrian troops backed by armour early Monday have moved into the flashpoint southern Syrian town of Deraa where heavy shooting was heard, according to witnesses on the scene. "Hundreds of security service men entered the town, accompanied by tanks and armoured vehicles," Abdullah Al-Harriri, an activist, told the AFP news agency in Nicosia by telephone. "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. Footage aired on the opposition news organisation on Monday, transmitted via satellite, appeared to show Syrian military firing at unseen targets with sniper rifles. The latest confrontation comes as Syrian intellectuals expressed their outrage over the violence, with a declaration on Monday signed by 102 writers and exiles from all the country’s main sects. The current protests against the regime started in Deraa where dozens of Syrians have been killed in the violent repression of demonstrations by the security forces. Thousands of residents of Deraa province buried several victims of the repression after prayers on Sunday. A demonstration followed, but the security forces did not intervene, an activist said. Asking to remain anonymous, he said the protesters brandished Syrian flags and placards calling for "suppression of Article 8 of the constitution" on the supremacy of the Baath Party. Most shops stayed closed in a sign of mourning. Despite a relative lull, four people were shot dead and several others wounded on Sunday 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 protests against 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, a Syrian human rights group, said that according to the organisation's most recent count on Friday, there were 221 "forcefully disappeared people" in Syria. 'Barrier of fear' Monday's declaration called on Syrian intellectuals "who have not broken the barrier of fear to make a clear stand. "We condemn the violent, oppressive practices of the Syrian regime against the protesters and mourn the martyrs of the uprising." Signatories included Alawite figures such as former political prisoner Loay Hussein; female writers Samar Yazbek and Hala Mohammad; Souad Jarrous, correspondent for the pan-Arab daily al-Sharq al-Awsat; writer and former political prisoner Yassin al-Haj Saleh and filmmaker Mohammad Ali al-Attassi. Mansour al-Ali, a prominent Alawite figure from the city of Homs, was arrested in his home city after he spoke out against the shooting of protesters, an activist in Homs said.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies