Syrian students 'killed at Aleppo protest'

[pampango]

Source: BBC

At least four people have been killed as security forces and militiamen raided student accommodation in Syria's second city, Aleppo, activists say.

Live ammunition was reportedly used to disperse an anti-government protest outside dormitories adjacent to Aleppo University's campus late on Wednesday. As many as 200 students are thought to have been arrested during the raid.

Aleppo has so far not experienced the violence and large-scale protests seen in other cities during the uprising. But there have been almost daily demonstrations by its students.

The overnight crackdown in Aleppo was launched despite the Syrian government saying it was abiding by the terms of the peace plan negotiated by the UN and Arab League envoy, Kofi Annan, which includes a ceasefire and a commitment to allow peaceful protests.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17937448

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Some background from Juan Cole in a post from a couple of weeks ago:

Tens of Thousands of Syrians Protest Peacefully after Ceasefire, 6 Killed

On the first day since the Baathist regime of Bashar al-Assad maintained that it had accepted a ceasefire with its opposition, tens of thousands of Syrians came out into the streets to protest. The regime did not, as promised, pull tanks from the streets, so that the crowds were thinner than they might have been. But al-Sharq al-Awsat reports that throughout the country 640 demonstrations were held.

The Arabic press reported 12 dead, but Western wire services mostly gave it as 6. Some reports have it lower yet.

The UNSC is meeting Saturday in an attempt to work out the practical details of sending UN observers to Syria to ensure that the cease-fire is observed.

Few in the opposition believe that al-Assad will really allow free peaceful protests, and al-Sharq al-Awsat carried this graphic in a story on the distrust of the regime among oppositionists, who have turned to ridiculing al-Assad:



http://www.juancole.com/2012/04/tens-of-thousands-of-syrias-protest-peacefully-after-ceasefire-6-killed.html

Apparently the reason for the duck with the head of Assad is that leaked emails revealed that the first lady’s nickname for bashar is duck.

At the protest rally apparently students called bashar an iranian dog and said they don’t need nato. Very defiant and fatalistic.

[al bupp]

1. AJE: University protest in Syria 'turns deadly'

This AJE article contains additional reports of government violence:

The apparent violence against students in Aleppo came just hours after Syrian officials in Damascus sat down with Kofi Annan, former UN secretary-general, to negotiate the terms of the ceasefire in March and early April.

...

The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused government forces on Wednesday of going on a killing spree in opposition-dominated areas.

"Everywhere we went, we saw burnt and destroyed houses, shops and cars, and heard from people whose relatives were killed. It was as if the Syrian government forces used every minute before the ceasefire to cause harm," Anna Neistat, senior HRW researcher, said on Wednesday.

In assaults on the northern province of Idlib, troops killed at least 95 civilians and destroyed hundreds of homes, HRW said in a report that accused the Syrian government of war crimes.

From: Four students reportedly dead after security forces storm dormitories at university in country's second city, Aleppo.