Witness: Syrian forces shot 6-year old
Reports emerging from Daraa claim at least 30 killed by security forces accompanied by tanks, snipers
Syrian troops tightened their grip on Daraa Wednesday as the global community raised alarm over the military assault on the restive town which according to rights activists has claimed at least 30 lives.
An eyewitness told CNN Wednesday that among the city's dead was a six-year old girl.
A militant in Daraa, the epicenter of pro-democracy protests in southern Syria, said security forces shot dead at least six people on Tuesday after killing at least 25 when they rolled into the town the previous day, backed by tanks and snipers.
The Daraa assault came four days after President Bashar Assad scrapped nearly five decades of draconian emergency rule and abolished the repressive state security court as he faced growing dissent and calls for reform.
The army said troops entered Daraa "in response to calls for help" from citizens to rid them of "extremist terrorist groups" behind a spate of killings and sabotage.
Late on Tuesday, the state news agency SANA reported the army "continued to chase armed groups and extremists in Daraa who attacked military positions, cut off roads and forced passers-by to stop so they could hit them." Key events in Syria's protest movement
The UN Human Rights Council will hold an emergency session on the deteriorating situation in the country, endorsed by 16 member states including Britain, France, Japan and the United States, UN officials said in a statement.
No Arab countries were among those requesting the session, which requires endorsement by one-third of the forum's membership to convene. Arab diplomats to the United Nations were holding closed-door talks on the issue in Geneva, according to UN sources.
UN chief condemns violence
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was watching events in Syria "with increasingly grave concern," after briefing the 15-nation Security Council about the crisis in the Arab world on Tuesday."I condemn, utterly, the continuing violence against peaceful demonstrators, most particularly the use of tanks and live fire that have killed and injured hundreds of people," he added.
As the Daraa crackdown rages, Security Council nations are discussing a statement proposed by four European powers who want to condemn deadly violence against protesters in Syria.
But the United States said that for now it will limit its response to the violent crackdown to diplomacy and possible sanctions.
Britain and France have made calls for "strong" action against the violence by Assad's forces.
Whether a statement is agreed will depend on the attitude of Russia and China, which traditionally resist initiatives they see as interfering in a country's internal affairs.
China's ambassador Li Baodong said he would "push for a political solution" in Syria.
"We are going to study the draft elements very seriously," he told reporters.
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