Syrian security forces killed almost 70 people during the new protests in the city of Hama on Friday, Al Arabiya quoted Syrian opposition members as saying.
A fresh wave of demonstrations and rallies swept across Syria on Friday, the Muslim day of prayer, after opposition groups called for protests against casualties among children during the recent weeks of violence.
According to opposition activists, thousands of unarmed demonstrators gathered in the city of Hama to protest against the regime of President Bashar Al Assad. At least 67 of them have been killed, the opposition says, according to Al Arabiya.
“There are also scores of wounded and the death toll may rise,” Reuters quoted Rami Abdul Rahman from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights as saying.
Rahman said that Friday’s demonstration in Hama was the largest since the protests began in mid-March.
The official SANA news agency however said that the country’s security forces stayed away from “hundreds of people gathered after Friday prayers in Hama chanting diverse slogans.”
Syrian state-run TV reported that three “looters” were killed in Hama during attempt to attack the government building.
On Thursday, at a conference in the Turkish coastal city of Antalya, Syrian opposition members rejected an amnesty granted by Assad on Tuesday to the representatives of political movements, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood.
They also dismissed Assad’s offer of concessions, saying that this can take place only once the violence ends, political prisoners are freed and reforms adopted.
MOSCOW, June 3 (RIA Novosti)