Syria: 13 protesters killed

Syrian security forces opened fire on thousands of protesters Friday, killing at least 13 people, wounding hundreds and forcing residents to turn mosques into makeshift hospitals in a southern city that has become a flashpoint for anti-government demonstrations, witnesses said.The government acknowledged violence in Daraa, but said only two people died and blamed armed thugs. One witness said he helped ferry the dead and wounded to the citys hospital, where he counted 13 corpses. My clothes are soaked with blood, he said by telephone from Daraa, adding that he was among thousands of people at the protest and he witnessed security forces shooting live ammunition.A nurse at the hospital said they had run out of beds; many people were being treated on the floor or in nearby mosques. Protest organisers have called on Syrians to take to the streets every Friday for the past three weeks, demanding reform in one of the most authoritarian nations in the Middle East. The protests have rattled the regime of President Bashar Assad, whose family has ruled Syria for nearly 40 years.The witness accounts coming out of Syria could not be independently confirmed because the regime has restricted media access to the country. Human rights groups say around 115 people have been killed in the security crackdown.