Syrian Forces Carry Out Arrests in Sweeps of Damascus Suburbs

Syrian security forces carried out widespread arrests overnight as anti-government protesters took to the streets in the suburbs of the capital after 13 people were killed in rallies.

Demonstrations took place in the Damascus suburbs of Douma, Barzeh, Harasta and Daraya yesterday night, said Mahmoud Merhi, head of the Arab Organization for Human Rights, in a phone interview from Syria. Security forces fired on anti-government protesters in several cities May 27 as they broke up rallies nationwide, pushing the death toll past 1,100 since demonstrations against the government of President Bashar Al-Assad began in mid-March, said Ammar Qurabi, head of Syria’s National Organization for Human Rights.