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Syria police 'killed in clashes' in Jisr al-Shughour | |
(40 minutes later) | |
Forty three members of the Syrian security forces have died in clashes in the north-western town of Jisr al-Shughour, state TV reports. | |
Reports said 20 police were killed in an ambush "by armed gangs", while others were killed in clashes with gunmen inside the town. | |
Syria's security forces have been cracking down on anti-government protests across the country. | |
The protests are calling for President Bashar Al-Assad to resign. | |
The state TV claim came a day after rights activists said at least 35 people, including police, had been killed in Jisr al-Shughour on Sunday. | |
Foreign media are greatly restricted in Syria and the details of these reports cannot be independently verified. | |
'Post office attack' | 'Post office attack' |
State TV said hundreds of armed gunmen had taken over parts of Jisr al-Shughour, attacking government buildings and setting them on fire. | |
It said gangs using light weapons, grenades and stolen explosives ambushed police as they approached the town, killing 20 officers. | |
The police convoy had been "on their way to rescue citizens being terrorised" by the gangs in Jisr al-Shughour, said the report, adding that residents had been "urging the army to intervene speedily". | |
Eight security guards were then reported to have been killed in a bomb attack on a post office, and others in clashes throughout the town. | |
The Sana news agency quoted an official as security forces were surrounding houses from which armed men were firing weapons. | |
The official said the gunmen were using residents as human shields. | |
The BBC's Jim Muir, in the region, says this appears to the most serious resistance yet to the government's efforts to control the uprising - and the first time officials have admitted to such a large loss of personnel. | |
Our correspondent said there was little information online about the clashes but that one protest site said the town had been surrounded and that some members of the security forces had switched sides. | |
The 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. | 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. | 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. |