Group: Security forces kill seven civilians in Syrian town

By Amir Ahmed, CNN

(CNN) -- Security forces killed at least seven civilians in the western industrial city of Homs amid continued sporadic fire into Tuesday morning, a human rights group and eyewitnesses said.

Security forces backed by the army fired heavily at people on the street in at least six neighborhoods populated by mostly Sunnis, according to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, an umbrella group organizing locals and eyewitnesses through the Internet.

CNN could not independently verify the information.

Homs residents said they could hear bursts of heavy machine guns and helicopters were hovering over the city as electricity was turned off in most of the city, the group said in a statement. There are reports of house raids since the early morning hours in the Talbeseh neighborhood, the group added.

At least seven people have been killed since late Monday into Tuesday, the UK-based Syrian Human Rights Committee reported. "Sporadic gunfire is nonstop since six last night as the security forces attack the Sunni neighborhood of al-Khaldiya," an eyewitness said as bullets were heard in the background.

The eyewitness did not want to be identified fearing his safety. Limited desertions in the nearby village of Hayt led to fierce fighting between the deserted troops and the military on Monday, resulting in four deaths and five injuries, the Local Coordination Committees of Syria said.

Some soldiers managed to escape and take refuge in homes as hundreds of residents chose to flee to Lebanon amidst the massive presence of troops of the Syrian military, the group added.

Elsewhere, electricity and water remain cut off in some areas of Aleppo after a large protest on Monday, the group said. A video surfaced on the Internet on Monday that seems to show members of the Syrian military humiliating civilian men by tying their hands, blindfolding their eyes as they are dragged in their undergarments.

Other videos showed night anti-government protests in the towns of Saraqeb, Qameshlo and Idlib. CNN could not verify the authenticity of the videos.

This unrest in Syria began in mid-March after teens were arrested for writing anti-government graffiti in Daraa, according to Amnesty International. As the clashes intensified, demonstrators changed their demands from calls for freedom and an end to abuses by the security forces to calls for the regime's overthrow.

On April 19, Syria's Cabinet lifted an emergency law that had been in effect since 1963. But security forces then moved quickly to crack down. Government opponents have alleged massive human rights abuses.


(2011-7-19/CNN)