Activist says Syrian forces kill 23 in protests

Syrian security forces killed 23 people in several cities and towns across the country, and arrested scores of others during a crackdown on protests Friday, Mahmoud Merhi, head of the Arab Organization for Human Rights, said by phone from Damascus today. Three members of the security forces were killed and several others injured yesterday by “gunfire from terrorist groups” that attacked their checkpoints in several Syrian cities, the official Syrian SANA news agency reported yesterday.