Marches continue in Syria

Syrians at Occupied Golan march

(Dp-news)

SYRIA- Conflict reports about gunfire at Homs and Lattakia, according to news online. They said that gunfire was heard at several places at these cities. Syrian State TV mentioned that one security officer was killed, while no further reports about these clashes.

Some 400 people, who wanted to celebrate 65 years of Syria independence, gathered in a square in the city of Soueida. They carried pictures of Syrian figures of the Revolution, as well as flags, said a human rights activist Mazen Darwish, president of the Syrian press Centre.

The demonstrators chanted slogans for freedom and against sectarianism, but supporters of the regime have dispersed them by hitting them with sticks and trampling on pictures of Ibrahim Hanano and Saleh al-Ali.

"Two protesters were injured and hospitalized," according to Darwish.

Moreover, in the nearby village of al-Qraya, where lies Sultan Pasha al-Atrash who led the Syrian Revolution (1925-1927), a delegation of about 150 people were prevented from celebrating Independence Day as every year, said the militant Mountaha al-Atrache.

The security forces have prevented the delegation composed of supporters of the Communist Party and the notables of Soueida, to visit the tomb, according to the activist.

Three people were injured and hospitalized, the little son of Sultan Pasha al-Atrash, Hani al-Atrash was severely beaten, said Darwish.

Damascus-based human rights activist Razan Zaitouneh confirmed this on her Facebook page. Another three people were injured in the nearby town of Quraya, she said.

There were also reports of demonstrations in Aleppo, Syria's second biggest city, in the coastal city of Baniyas, Jableh, Talbiseh, Doma and Daraa, but no news have confirmed yet for numbers and clashes.

Rights activist Suhair Atassi said on Twitter that 400-500 people were protesting in Aleppo, chanting slogans for national unity.

Activist from Aleppo told AlJazeera that they were forced to leave and end their demonstrations by thugs, even though police and security forces were there. He added that no detained or any clash took place.

Within hours of the president's speech on Saturday, about 2,000 protesters staged a sit-in in the suburb of Douma, demanding the release of relatives arrested on Friday during a major day of nationwide protests, activists said.

SANA reporters in different Syrian cities said the atmospheres were normal and calm on the Independence Day. Dara'a, Sweida and Jablah witnessed small gatherings of citizens who shouted for freedom and the martyr.

Although media campaigns led by a number of satellite TV stations and foreign calls to demonstrate in Syria, normal life and calm prevailed the majority of Syrian cities on the Independence Day, according to SANA.

The official SANA news agency also reported earlier that around 2,000 people demonstrated in the southern protest hub of Daraa late on Saturday, chanting slogans for "freedom" and the lifting of emergency laws.

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