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| Syria police 'killed in ambush' in Jisr al-Shughour | Syria police 'killed in ambush' in Jisr al-Shughour |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| Forty Syrian policemen have died in attacks in the north-western town of Jisr al-Shughour, state TV reports. | |
| Most of the dead were said to have been killed in an ambush "by armed gangs", said the report. | |
| The news follows a weekend of unrest in the town, as troops crack down on anti-government protests that have swept the country. | |
| At least 35 people, including police, were killed there on Sunday, unconfirmed reports say. | At least 35 people, including police, were killed there on Sunday, unconfirmed reports say. |
| 'Post office attack' | |
| Foreign media are greatly restricted in Syria and the details cannot be independently verified. | |
| State TV said 20 police were killed on Monday in an ambush by gangs armed with light weapons and grenades. | |
| A number of other officers and security guards were then killed in a bomb attack on a post office, it said. | |
| The police had been "on their way to rescue citizens being terrorised" by the gangs in Jisr al-Shughour, it said, adding that residents had been "urging the army to intervene speedily". | |
| Protests calling for President Bashar al-Assad to resign - inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt - have rocked Syria for several months. | |
| They began in mid-March in the southern town of Deraa and have spread to other towns and cities. | |
| Mr Assad, whose family has been in power for four decades, has promised to introduce reforms, but his opponents and are demanding he stand down. |