Syrian troops shoot at protesters, kill 2

Syrian security forces fired on protesters in the central province of Homs on Saturday, killing two people and wounding at least eight, as President Bashar Assad pushed ahead with a brutal crackdown despite assurances to the UNchief this week that the military operations have ended.United States and its European allies on Thursday demanded the Syrian president step down.A state-owned Syrian newspaper, considered a government mouthpiece, rejected those calls Saturday, saying they revealed the face of the conspiracy against Damascus.The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security forces on Saturday shot dead two people in the town of Rastan, near the provincial capital of Homs, including well-known activists Mahmoud Ayoub who organized anti-regime protests.The group said the troops also wounded at least eight people Saturday in Homs, where a general strike was under way to protests the crackdown and most of the citys markets were closed.The government dispatched reinforcements Saturday to Homs, Syrias third-largest city and the site of intense anti-regime protests, according to the Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the London-based Observatory. Shooting has not stopped since last night, Abdul-Rahman said.The latest casualties, along with 29 people who activists said were shot dead Friday in different locations across the country, suggest Assad is either unwilling to stop the violence — or not fully in control of his own regime.Apart from Homs, the military offensive has also focused on the coastal city of Latakia, the eastern city of Deir el-Zour, and the central flashpoint city of Hama.Activists reported a wave of arrests in parts of Latakia on Saturday, adding that authorities were cleaning up the al-Ramel neighborhood after a four-day military operation earlier this week. A UNteam is expected to arrive in Damascus later on Saturday and visit Latakia on Sunday.