Massive protests calling for the ouster of Syria’s authoritarian president turned deadly again Friday

Massive protests calling for the ouster of Syria’s authoritarian president turned deadly again Friday, with witnesses and human rights workers reporting the deaths of as many as three dozen protesters across the country and the government saying for the first time that members of its security forces had also been killed.
As the uprising demanding the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad entered its fourth week, protesters took to the streets after Friday noon prayers chanting, “God, freedom, Syria!” in the volatile southern city of Daraa, the capital, Damascus, and the cities of Latakia, Tartous, Homs and Harasta, according to a human rights activist in Damascus who has been in touch with other activists around Syria.

In several of those areas, violent clashes broke out between demonstrators and security forces, with the worst violence occurring in Daraa, where the protests originated last month. At least 25 people were killed in the city and demonstrators had turned the Omari Mosque into a hospital, rights activists said.

“The situation there is disastrous,” the activist in Damascus said, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.