Secret police strike fear in Syria’s Deraa

A SYRIAN mother-of-six who opened the door to a secret policeman in the border town of Deraa just had time to scream “Israelis are more merciful than you” before he shot her dead, relatives said.

Neighbours were then chilled by the hysterical cries of her 10-year-old daughter Sameeha after the killing on Wednesday.

Tanks rolled into Deraa, the cradle of protests against President Bashar al-Assad, last Monday. Residents say at least 50 bodies have been picked up, mainly from the town’s old quarter, since then. Dozens more corpses still rot in the streets.