Syria: soldiers, children shot by ‘armed criminals’

Three army officers and three children were killed by "armed criminal gangs" around the central city of Homs, Syrian authorities announced on Tuesday.

"Armed criminal gangs who block roads and spread fear in the area, came upon General Abdo Khodr Al-Tellawi, his two children and his nephew, and killed them in cold blood," the official news agency SANA reported. The victims' bodies were "mutilated", SANA added.

Two other officers "fell as martyrs to armed criminal gang's bullets in Homs", the agency said.

Since the beginning of the protest movement more than a month ago, the authorities have repeatedly blamed violence on "armed gangs."

Early Tuesday Syrian security forces fired tear gas and live ammunition at anti-government protesters who took over a main square in the country's third-largest city, witnesses and activists said.

An eyewitness said police used loudspeakers to call on protesters camped out at Clock Square in the center of the city of Homs to evacuate the area. Shortly afterward, security forces moved in, firing first tear gas, then live ammunition at the protesters who had brought mattresses, food and water to the site in an Egypt-style sit-in, vowing to stay until President Bashar Assad is ousted.

"They shot at everything, there was smoke everywhere," an activist in Homs said by telephone. "I saw people on the ground, some shot in their feet, some in the stomach."

Other protesters confirmed his account, and said the exact number of casualties was not clear. All of the activists spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

At least 200 people have been killed in the past month in Syria as security forces have launched a deadly crackdown on a growing protest movement, human rights groups say.

The protesters have also become bolder. More than 5,000 anti-government demonstrators took over the square in Homs on Monday, vowing to stay until Assad's ouster.

The Egypt-style standoff in Homs followed funeral processions by more than 10,000 mourners for some of those killed in clashes Sunday that a rights group said left at least 12 people dead.

Many Syrians also say pro-government thugs — known as Shabiha — have terrorized neighborhoods with tactics such as opening fire into the air.

The government has in the past blamed "armed gangs" seeking to stir up unrest for many of the killings, such as the ones who fatally shot seven people, including three army officers, on Sunday in Homs.

On Monday, the interior ministry issued a warning that it would suppress an "armed revolt" undermining security in the country.

It accused "armed Salafist groups" of killing soldiers, policemen and civilians, and of attacking public and private property, and warned that "their terrorist activities will not be tolerated."