Syrian state TV reports 120 security forces 'killed in massacre'

Activists dispute report and speak of mutiny in security service after policemen who refused to open fire on demonstrators were executed.

A demonstration demanding freedom in Syria yesterday in front of the CNN building in Hollywood, California. Gabriel Bouys / AFP Photo

DAMASCUS // Up to 120 members of the Syrian security forces were killed in the latest protests against Bashar al Assad's regime, Syrian state television claimed last night.

Armed gangs carried out the massacre in the northwestern town of Jisrash Shugur, where there have been protests in the past few days, and gunmen also stole five tons of dynamite, the broadcaster said.

Syrian activists in Cyprus disputed the official account. They said there was a mutiny in the town, where security forces have been carrying out operations for three days.

Communications to the area 330km north of Damascus were cut and details of the claim were impossible to verify, but there have been unconfirmed reports by residents and activists of Syrians fighting back against Mr Assad's security forces.

"The armed groups are committing a real massacre. They have mutilated bodies and thrown others into the Assi river," the state broadcaster said. "They have burned government buildings.

"The police and security agents are confronting hundreds of armed men. They have managed to liberate one district controlled by gunmen."

The broadcaster said residents had "pleaded for help and the rapid intervention of the army".

"Armed gangs ambushed police who were on their way to rescue citizens being terrorised," it said, and the groups were armed with "light weapons and grenades and are using residents as human shields".

Elsewhere, eight guards at a post office were killed by armed gangs, who used the building's gas pipes to blow it up, the broadcaster claimed.

The interior minister warned the state would hit back, as Amnesty International called for UN action.

"The state will act firmly, with force and in line with the law. It will not stay arms folded in the face of armed attacks on the security of the homeland," said Mohammed Ibrahim al Shaar in a statement read on television.

However, two activists in Nicosia said the town was calm yesterday, and spoke of a mutiny at a local security headquarters, where shooting was heard the day before.

"I think they executed policemen who refused to open fire on demonstrators. There was a mutiny in the security service," one said.

The other said "shooting followed by an explosion was heard in the military HQ, apparently after a mutiny".

He said regime "snipers" had opened fire on protesters in the town, killing two. Demonstrators then gathered outside the headquarters and "shots and an explosion took place inside" the building, he added.

Yesteday's reports came a day after at least 40 people were killed, including 35 in Jisrash Shugur, said the head of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman.

He said 27 civilians and eight security agents were killed in the town as security forces pressed sweeps targeting anti-regime protesters in Idlib province.

Further north, in Idlib town, security forces dispersed a crowd of 1,500 demonstrators, he said.

Two civilians were reported killed on Sunday in the coastal town of Jabla, and security forces shot at protesters outside a building of the ruling Baath party in the eastern town of Deir Ezzor, killing three, Abdel Rahman said.

Six human rights groups in Syria issued a joint statement condemning "the excessive use of force to disperse peaceful gatherings of unarmed Syrian citizens".

They urged the government to "stop the spiral of violence and assassinations in the streets of Syria," and demanded an independent and transparent inquiry to unmask those responsible.

"As the death toll in Syria reaches staggering new heights, it is imperative that the UN Security Council - which has so far been silent on this issue - votes to condemn the killings," said Philip Luther of Amnesty International.

"It must also take decisive action and refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court," he said.

The latest violence comes despite Syria freeing more than 450 political prisoners since last Tuesday under a general amnesty announced by Mr al Assad.

Late on Sunday, the state news agency SANA also reported the creation of a committee to draft a law on political parties.

The current constitution stipulates that the ruling Baath party is "the leader of state and society", but political pluralism has been at the forefront of demands by pro-reform dissidents.

Rights groups say more than 1,100 civilians have been killed and at least 10,000 arrested in Syria since anti-regime protests erupted in mid-March.

Damascus blames the unrest on "armed terrorist gangs" backed by Islamists and foreign agitators.

* With reporting by Agence France-Presse, Bloomberg and the Associated Press