11 civilians killed by security forces in northern Syrian town

11 civilians were killed Wednesday in the northern town of Jabal Zawiya along the Syrian-Turkish border — one of the first towns to participate in the months-long uprising against the 11-year rule of Bashar Assad — also was the scene of nighttime security crackdowns.as security forces stormed two northern towns in the larger governorate of Idlib, human rights activist stated .

Ammar Qarabi, president of the Syrian National Human Rights Organization, told Reuters that Syrian security troops, still loyal to the Syrian President Bashar Assad also entered the town of Rama and used tank machine guns against civilians, killing four.

Wissam Tarif, director of human rights organization INSAN, said “a military operation” was going on in Idlib and that the army entered three more towns early in the morning.

Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP that soldiers were deployed in the villages to conduct house raids.

The Local Coordination Committees reported Wednesday that Syrian security forces also launched attacks on schools and universities breaking for the annual summer vacation.

Amateur footage posted on the Internet allegedly shows high school students protesting in the towns of Saqba, Homs, Madaya, Dara and Deir Ezzor on Wednesday demanding the overthrow of the regime.

In the video posted above, senior high school students take to the streets in Saqba.

“Leave us alone, we don’t like you,” they chanted, addressing the Syrian president. One banner in the large crowds reads, “Death rather than humiliation.”

LAT, agencies