AFP: ‘Hundreds killed’ in Syria protests during Ramadan
Syrian security forces carried out arrests and set fire to homes on Wednesday, activists reported, at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan during which a rights group said 473 people were killed.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 16 people were arrested in Houle, 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Homs, where the authorities sparked anger on Monday as they returned the bodies of 13 people arrested in early August.
The Local Coordination Committees, grouping activists on the ground, said security forces set fire to the homes of two men in Houle and threatened to arrest their wives and children if they did not surrender.
In the village of Aqrab, security forces burned down another house and carried out searches and arrests, terrorising local residents at the start of the Eid holidays which follow Ramadan, according to the committees.