Assad loyalists fire at Sunni Muslims in Syria

Irregular forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fired at a group of people guarding a mosque in Banias on Sunday, two witnesses said, after pro-democracy unrest flared in the coastal city. Once-unthinkable mass protests challenging Assad's authoritarian rule has spread across Syria despite his attempts to defuse resentment by making gestures towards reforms. At least 90 people have been killed in the disturbances.
Tanks fanned out overnight in the northern district of coastal Banias, intensifying a crackdown on popular dissent now in its fourth week in the tightly controlled country.
A doctor and a university professor said a group was guarding Banias's Sunni Abu Bakr al-Siddiq mosque with sticks during morning prayers when irregulars from Syria's ruling Alawite minority, known as "shabbiha", fired at them with automatic rifles from speeding cars.
Five people were injured, including a 47-year-old man who was hit in the chest, they told Reuters.
The attack followed a demonstration of some 2,000 people in Banias on Friday when protesters shouted "the people want the overthrow of the regime" - the rallying cry of the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions that have inspired growing protests across Syria against decades of Alawite domination.
"Four people were hit in the feet and legs. The fifth sustained the most serious injury, an AK-47 bullet that went through his left chest lateral," said the doctor, who was at the scene.
"The regime is trying to show that this is a Sunni-Alawite issue, but the Sunni (Muslim) people of Banias know that only a minority of thugs are co-operating with them," said the other witness.
"Banias is a city of 50,000 people. We all know each other, and for sure we would know if there were infiltrators," he said, adding that Syrian state television was the only media allowed in Banias, similar to other flashpoints across the country.
Any spiral into instability in Syria would have wider strategic repercussions because it lies at the heart of Middle East conflict, maintaining an anti-Israel alliance with Iran and supporting the militant Hezbollah and Hamas movements.