At least 44 people were killed in Syria on Friday in a violent crackdown by security forces against protesters demanding the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad. Activists said online that 34 bodies arrived at the Horani hospital in Hama, the country's fourth-largest city.
Most of their injuries were from gunfire. Bodies were still being brought into the hospital by late afternoon, pushing the death toll higher than was previously reported. Al Arabiya satellite channel quoted Syrian opposition sources that claimed 67 protesters were killed in Hama. That figure has not been confirmed. Prior to Friday's deaths, Hama had been relatively calm compared to neighbouring cities beset by protests demanding greater freedoms.
Hama was the scene of a deadly government crackdown in 1982 that left thousands of civilians dead. President Bashar al-Assad's father, Hafiz al-Assad - who was president of Syria at the time - authorised an attack against Sunni Muslims looking to unseat the president's Alawite sect from power.
Activists said the latest protesters were the largest to date against the current president's 11 year-rule. The younger al-Assad rose to power after the death of his father, who ruled the country for 30 years. Tens of thousands marched demanding the resignation of al-Assad in several provinces including Lattakia, Banias, Aleppo and the suburbs of the province of Damascus, near the capital.
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