15 killed in Syrian protests

SYRIAN security forces shot dead at least 15 people yesterday after tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets demanding the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad, witnesses said.

“Tell the world Bashar is without legitimacy,” shouted several thousand protesters in the Damascus suburb of Irbin.

The Local Coordination Committees, a main activists’ group, said it had the names of 14 civilians killed in the merchant city of Homs, the impoverished town of Kiswa.

Another protester was shot dead in the town of Qusair, a rights group said.

Syrian state television blamed the killings in Barzeh on armed men who authorities say are behind the violence in the three-month uprising, and said members of security forces were wounded.