DAMASCUS: Syrian security forces fired on thousands of demonstrators Sunday in the town of Daraa, killing one and wounding around 100, two of them critically, a rights activist at the scene said.
Daraa, south of the capital Damascus, has turned into a "volcano", the witness told AFP by telephone.
"A protester was killed today by live bullets. His name is Raed Akrad," he said, adding that two others wounded in the head were in critical condition.
Earlier he reported that more than 100 people were wounded when security forces fired live bullets and tear gas at thousands of demonstrators who gathered in Daraa for a third consecutive day of protests.
"The army surrounds the town but it has not intervened," he said.
He said tensions were very high in Daraa and anger flared as a top-ranking government delegation arrived to pay condolences to families of demonstrators killed by security forces on Friday.
Rights groups have said that four protesters were killed on Friday while two of them were buried Saturday in Daraa.
Syrian authorities announced on Saturday the establishment of a commission of inquiry on the violence in Daraa.
The delegation included deputy foreign minister Faysal Meqdad, Local Administration Minister Tamer Al-Hijjeh and senior security officer Rustom Ghazaleh, the activist said.
"The came to offer their condolences to the families of the protesters killed on Friday," the activist said, adding that protesters seethed with anger when they saw the officials.
"The protesters cried out: ‘He who strikes his own people is a traitor,’" he added.
The protest began in the afternoon — before the officials arrived — with a march setting off from the Omari mosque, the witness added.
"The security forces backed by police fired live rounds at the demonstrators, numbering more than 10,000," the witness said.
"They are also firing tear gas mixed with toxic products," he claimed.
The latest casualties were being evacuated to the mosque, which has turned into a "field hospital," the activist said, declining to be named.
"There has been shooting in several parts of the city and there are clashes between protesters and security forces," backed by plain-clothes police, the witness said.
He also reported an unspecified number of arrests.
On Saturday security forces arrested dozens of protesters in Daraa, where thousands of people attended the funerals of Akram Al-Jawabra and Hussam Abdelwali Ayash, two of the four protesters killed on Friday.
Sporadic demonstrations against President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime have taken place in Syria since last Tuesday after calls on Facebook demanding greater freedom in the country, which has been under emergency law since 1963.
In addition to Daraa, they erupted on Friday in the capital Damascus, the coastal city of Banias and in Homs north of the capital.
Protesters have been mainly calling for the release of political prisoners and reforms at a time of popular uprisings across the Middle East.
