Snipers kill two in Latakia—Syrian official

DAMASCUS—Two people were killed and two more were wounded by unidentified snipers in the coastal town of Latakia on Saturday, a Syrian official told AFP.

Another high-ranking official earlier on Saturday said “armed men” on rooftops had been firing at passers-by in the port city, some 350 kilometres (210 miles) northwest of the capital Damascus.

A string of demonstrations demanding major reforms began on March 15 in Syria, the latest country to witness protests against a long-running regime, but they have been largely centred on the country’s south.

Officials have confirmed the deaths of 15 people in clashes with security forces.

Amnesty International estimates that at least 55 people have been killed in one week of unrest in the southern governorate of Daraa, a tribal area on the Jordanian border.