Syrian forces kill 34 in Hama as crackdown intensifies

Syrian security forces shot dead at least 34 demonstrators in Hama on Friday, an activist said, in one of the bloodiest incidents in their crackdown on an 11-week-old revolt against President Bashar Assad’s rule.

In a pattern seen every Friday since mid-March, protesters have marched out of mosques after noon prayers, to be met by security forces intent on crushing a revolt against Assad, in power in Syria for the last 11 years.

Three residents said security forces and snipers fired at tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in the city centre in one of the biggest protests seen so far in Hama, and scores of wounded were taken to a nearby hospital.

Read more at Haaretz.com.