Rights group: 120 killed in Syria violence
Thousands attend funerals for protesters killed by Syrian security forces; military snipers said to fire on crowds. At least 120 dead in last two days of violence, human rights group says
(VIDEO) A human rights group says the death toll from two days of violence in Syria has reached 120.
Syrian security forces fired live bullets and tear gas Friday and Saturday as tens of thousands of people gathered across the country to protest the country's authoritarian regime.
Ammar Qurabi is the head of Syria's National Organization for Human Rights. He said 112 people were killed Friday and at least eight on Saturday.
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More than 300 people have been killed in the past five weeks.
The violence prompted two Syrian lawmakers to resign in disgust over the killings. The lawmakers are from Daraa, a southern region that unleashed the protest movement in mid-March.
Syria buries scores of dead
Tens of thousands of Syrian mourners gathered for funerals in Syria Saturday, draping bodies in white cloth to prepare them for burial after security forces killed more than 100 people in the deadliest day of the uprising against authoritarian President Bashar Assad.
Mourners were en route to the southern town of Ezreh, for the funerals of 18 people killed by security forces during protests, a rights activist said.
Funerals were also due to take place in other parts of Syria, following one of the bloodiest days of protests since unprecedented pro-democracy demonstrations erupted on March 15.
Mourners appeared somber but defiant, chanting, "The people want the overthrow of the regime," "Bashar Assad, you traitor!" and "Long live Syria, down with Bashar!"
Syrian military forces reportedly fired live rounds at one of the funeral processions in the Damascus suburb of Douma, killing several people and injuring others.
'Snipers shooting from rooftops'
An eyewitness said that military snipers in civilian clothes, positioned on rooftops in the Duma, opened fire on the mourners. "We are living in a real war," he said. "We haven't been able to reach the graveyard yet because snipers and security forces in uniform are shooting at the funeral procession from rooftops and the streets."
Damascus was tense Saturday and many people stayed indoors, an activist told Reuters from the capital. "Today we will have the funerals, we are worried that during the funerals more blood will be spilled which will provoke more protests and more death," he said.
"This is becoming like a snowball and getting bigger and bigger every week. Anger is rising, the street is boiling."
AP, Reuters and AFP contributed to this report
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