News Corners

More than 20 people are reported to have been killed by the Syrian military as thousands of anti-government protesters took part in demonstrations.

It comes as Turkey braces itself for many more refugees after a day of fierce unrest in the north of Syria.

Syrian forces reportedly shelled the town of Maaret al-Nuuman and opened fire on protests nationwide, killing at least 28 people, activists said.

About 2,800 Syrians have streamed across the border into Turkey, some of them fearful they said of reprisals to be carried out by their own military.

Thousands of protesters overwhelmed security officers and torched the courthouse and police station in Maaret al-Numan, according to an opposition figure quoted by the Associated Press.

The army responded with tank shells.

Syria’s official news agency SANA reported that “gatherings of scores of citizens took place in a number of provinces after Friday Prayers, chanting various slogans”.

It was the most honest official admission yet that the protests are nationwide.

Syria’s state-run television reported that gunmen opened fire on police stations in Maaret al-Numan, causing casualties among security officials.

Twenty-five miles to the west in the same province, Syrian troops backed by dozens of tanks massed outside the virtually deserted town of Jisr al-Shughour and shelled nearby villages.

Syrian authorities said that “armed gangs” killed more than 120 security personnel in the town earlier this week.

But campaigners said scores of civilians had been killed after some soldiers refused to shoot at protesters and fighting broke out between loyalist and mutinous forces.

New footage emerging YouTube apparently filmed by soldiers shows them abusing and beating terrified prisoners.

“Here’s your request for freedom” one soldier says kicking his captive.

‘This one’s for the martyrs’ he says as he does it again.

Syria’s military is acting with utter impunity it seems.

The soldiers complete their brutal ritual posing for showing their faces in a final team photo.

Despite the brutality, Syrian demonstrators remain defiant.

Protesting in their hundreds and thousands in Homs, central Syria, Deraa where the unrest began and in the capital Damascus after Friday prayers.

The latest reports of a government crackdown intensified international concerns over Syria’s handling of the protests.

Britain, France, Germany and Portugal have asked the UN Security Council to condemn President Bashar Assad, although veto-wielding Russia has said it would oppose such a move.