Syria's opposition warned of a "massacre" by government troops in the dissident central Homs province, as the death toll in the crackdown on protesters around the country climbed to 32 on Friday. Eighteen of the deaths occurred in Homs and included three children and a woman, the opposition Local Co-ordination Committees of Syria reported.
The others were killed when the security forces fired on anti-government demonstrations in the provinces of Hama, Idlib and Daraa, said activists. The protests were part of a civil disobedience campaign called by the opposition against President Bashar al-Assad.
Omar Homsi, an activist based in Homs, told dpa by phone that at least two boys aged 15 to 16 were arrested Friday by the security forces in a crackdown on the province. "The boys were seen dragged by the security forces, bundled inside a car trunk and taken to an unknown destination," he added. Homsi told dpa that thousands of government forces had encircled Homs to launch what may be a final assault to crush dissent in the province, known as the "capital of the Syrian revolution."
According to him, government troops were also reinforcing their positions near the border with Turkey and making house-to-house searches for suspected army defectors in Idlib. The Syrian National Council, which groups Syrian opposition leaders, said Friday "the regime is preparing to commit a massacre to quell the revolution in Homs." Homs, which has a population of about 1.6 million, has been the target of frequent crackdowns by the government forces since a pro-democracy uprising started mid-March. Since the uprising started against al-Assad's regime, more than 4,000 people have been killed and over 14,000 have been arrested, according to UN estimates.