Syrian troops kill three protesters
Security forces have opened fire on anti-government protesters in southern Syria, killing at least three people, as the government moves to crush a popular nationwide revolt, Syrian rights activists have said.
President Bashar Assad has dispatched army troops backed by tanks to a cluster of villages near the southern city of Daraa where the uprising against the regime began in mid-March.
Demonstrators took to the streets of some of those villages despite the heavy security presence, and activists said today that three protesters were killed when forces fired on crowds in the village of Jassem on Tuesday night.
More than 750 people have been killed in the crackdown, according to a rights group.