Security forces kill at least 4 people in Syria

At least four people were killed across Syria on Sunday, the Local Coordination Committees reported, as violence between protesters and Syrian security forces continued unabated.

The LCC, an opposition activist group that organizes and documents anti-government demonstrations, said that two people were killed in Idlib and one person each in Daraa and Homs.

Among the dead was an 11-year-old child, who had been wounded in the head by gunfire, the LCC reported.

In Daraa province, security forces arrested activists suspected of participating in protests, the group said.

CNN could not independently confirm the claims.

Unrest has plagued Syria for more than six months, as protesters demanding more freedom, democratic elections and an end to President Bashar al-Assad’s regime have been met by brute force.

The government claims its security forces are battling terrorists, intent on targeting civilians and fomenting unrest.

At least 2,978 people have been killed in Syria since mid-March, according to the LCC.

The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has put the death toll at around 2,600.

Also Sunday, a video surfaced on YouTube, showing five men dressed in military uniforms, sitting in chairs and on a couch. In the video, the men — who identify themselves as belonging to the Khaled Bin Walid Brigade — condemn the arrest of Lt. Col. Hussein al-Harmoush.

Three months after he first appeared in an Internet video — in uniform, denouncing his government and calling on fellow soldiers to rebel — al-Harmoush was back on television last week, this time in a televised confession on Syrian state TV.

“We urge international human rights groups to immediately intervene,” one of the men in the Sunday video read from a statement.

“We hope that our Arab brothers, governments and nations stand with their Syrian brothers. We also ask that our honorable fellow soldiers stand with their nation and reject protecting Bashar al-Assad,” he said.

CNN could not independently confirm the authenticity of the video.

On Saturday, a demonstration was held at the funeral of a Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteer, who died from his wounds Friday almost one week after being injured attempting to transport an injured protester in Homs, said the humanitarian organization.

Two other volunteers were injured in the same incident, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which called on those involved in the violence in Syria to respect and protect medical personnel.

CNN