Erbil, May 8 (AKnews) - Six protesters, including four women, were shot and killed in the Syrian port city of Banias yesterday as government forces continued to repress demonstrations there, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Syrian tanks storming the city were met by protesters linked in human chains to block the advance, The AFP reported. The demonstrations were a response to the killings May 6 of at least 30 people by Syrian forces.
Gunfire was heard in the city as security forces tried to enter the al- Rahman mosque, BBC Arabic said.
In Egypt, where former President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February, 11 people were killed and 150 injured yesterday in clashes between Christians and Muslims in Cairo, Al Jazeera television reported. The army was later deployed on city streets to stop the violence that was sparked by reports of a romance between a Coptic Christian and a Muslim, it said.
Unrest has spread throughout the Middle East and North Africa in recent months, toppling or threatening regimes in Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain, Libya and Yemen.
Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh, whose country has been shaken by anti-government protests since Feb. 11, called on the military to "raise the security alert in the country and deal firmly with anyone seeking to harm Yemen's security and stability," the official Saba news agency reported yesterday.
Saleh's remarks were made during a meeting with military and security forces commanders that focused on the "negative impacts" of the unrest.
© AK News 2011
