Regime Forces Fire on Syria Protests
Regime forces fired on protesters who took to the streets of Aleppo on Friday, wounding several people at the biggest rally seen in Syria’s second city since a revolt erupted last year, a watchdog said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said demonstrators also suffered gunshot wounds in Douma, a key protest hub near Damascus, but did not provide any casualty figures.
“Thousands of people demonstrated in various districts [of Aleppo] despite the repression,” said Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
“These are the most important events in Aleppo since the beginning of the revolt,” he told AFP in Beirut.
The government said its forces foiled a suicide bomb attack in Aleppo last Friday, a day after twin bombings in Damascus killed 55 people and wounded nearly 400. It has repeatedly blamed such attacks on “terrorists”.
U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday he believed Al-Qaeda committed the Damascus attack. “Very alarmingly and surprisingly, a few days ago, there was a huge serious massive terrorist attack. I believe that there must be al-Qaeda behind it. This has created again very serious problems,” said Mr. Ban.