Post date: Mar 26, 2011 10:9:26 PM
Amateur video shot Friday shows violent protests in Deraa, with rights groups saying dozens have been killed over the past week. Deborah Lutterbeck reports.
SYRIA-UNREST - Amateur video from Friday shows wounded men being carried in southern Syria.
Rights groups say dozens of people have been killed over the past week around Deraa. Scores more have been wounded.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is facing the deepest crisis of his 11 years in power.
On Friday citizens were out in force at the funeral for Syrian protesters.Such demonstrations would have been unthinkable a couple of months ago in this most tightly controlled of Arab countries.
Residents say 20 people were killed Friday when gunmen opened fire on a crowd outside a building used by military intelligence.
Amid the sound of gunfire a body lies in a pool of blood.
Unrest in Syria came to a head after police detained more than a dozen schoolchildren for writing prodemocracy graffiti.
On Saturday, amateur video shows a tense calm in Deraa.
The wounded are treated in the hospital.
The government is accusing gangs for being behind the violence and blaming them for the killing of civilians.
Bordered by Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey, Syria's 22 million people sit at the heart of a complex web of conflict in the Middle East.
Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters