Dozens Reportedly Killed In Syria Protests

Syrian troops fought pitched battles Friday with protesters as the army intensified a crackdown on an anti-government uprising, killing at least 32 people in the shelling of a northern border town and attacks on demonstrators.

Many of the deaths occurred when tanks opened fire on Maaret al-Numan, a town in northern Idlib province near the Turkish border, according to the Local Coordination Committees, a group that documents anti-government protests in Syria.

Syria's state-run TV said gunmen attacked security forces in Maaret al-Numan, but an opposition activist interviewed by The Associated Press said thousands of protesters overwhelmed the troops and torched the courthouse and police station in the town. The army responded by lobbing tank shells into the city, according to the activist, who asked not to be identified. Neither the activist's report nor the one from state media could be independently verified.

The move by government forces was aimed at crushing an 11-week uprising against President Bashar al-Assad — the biggest challenge to his family's autocratic rule in more than four decades.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/06/10/137101586/syria-launches-operation-in-north-protests-resume?ft=1&f=1004

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