Syria: 'Dozens injured' in Baniyas as arrests continue

Dozens of people have been injured in clashes with security forces in the Syrian port of Baniyas, where 13 people were killed on Saturday, residents say.

One area is surrounded by army vehicles and gunfire is ongoing, they say.

Rights groups say hundreds of people have been arrested, including several students who took part in a rare rally at Damascus University on Monday.

About 200 people have died in weeks of protests against repression by President Bashar al-Assad's government.

The unrest is seen as the biggest challenge to the president, whose recent promise to introduce reforms has failed to stop street protests.

Damascus protest

For the first time on Monday, around 500 students staged a demonstration at Damascus University, calling for greater political freedom.

There were reports that some students were arrested, although this cannot be confirmed.

It was a daring step by the students, as the university is tightly controlled by security personnel affiliated to the ruling Baath Party, says the BBC's Lina Sinjab in the capital.

Students loyal to President Assad staged a counter-demonstration at the campus, chanting pro-government slogans.

In the coastal city of Baniyas, meanwhile, another 22 people were arrested on Monday, as funerals were held for the four people who died when security forces opened fire on protesters over the weekend.

The government said nine soldiers died in the clashes and another 18 were injured in Saturday's clashes.

Parts of the city remain under lockdown on Tuesday, residents have told the BBC.

One witness says the village of Bayda is surrounded by army vehicles. He says dozens of people have been injured in clashes with security forces, and that soldiers are preventing ambulances from getting into the town.

Earlier on Tuesday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Syrian security forces of preventing medics from reaching wounded protesters when clashes erupted at anti-government demonstrations last week.

The US-based Human Rights Watch said troops had blocked access to medical treatment last week in the southern town of Deraa, the centre of a wave of protests against President Assad, and Harasta, near Damascus.

"To deprive wounded people of critical and perhaps life-saving medical treatment is both inhumane and illegal," said Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW's Middle East director.

It said a total of 28 people were killed on Friday when security forces fired on protesters in Deraa, Harasta and Douma, a suburb of Damascus.

"Syria's leaders talk about political reform, but they meet their people's legitimate demands for reform with bullets," said Ms Whitson.

Mass arrests

Meanwhile, hundreds of arrests were taking place across the country, according to human rights groups.

Fayez Sara, 61, a well known Syrian writer and journalist, was arrested on Monday, said Abdul-Karim Rihawi of the Syrian Human Rights League.

Mr Sara was the third opposition figure arrested since Sunday, he added. Others rounded up by security forces include bloggers, activists and young opposition supporters.

Human Rights Watch says there are reports of severe beatings and torture taking place inside prisons.

About 200 people in Syria have been killed in mass demonstrations, which first erupted in March in the southern city of Deraa.

The protests then spread across Syria despite Mr Assad's attempts to defuse tensions by offering "to study" whether to end to the decades-old emergency law and to appease minority Kurds by offering them citizenship.

Demonstrators are calling for greater political rights, personal freedoms, and an end to Assad's rule.

source : bbc.co.uk