Deadly clashes hit Syrian town of Banias

DAMASCUS (AFP) Syrian government forces killed at least four people and wounded 17 when they were strafed a residential neighborhood in the coastal city of Banias with gunfire for hours Sunday.

A Syrian security guard was later killed and another wounded when their patrol was ambushed in the northwestern coastal city, the official SANA news agency.

The latest bloodshed comes a day after death in the southern city of Dara, the epicenter of more than three weeks of pro-democracy demonstrations, buried about 20 demonstrators killed by security forces.

In Banias, the number of civilian casualties has been at least four dead and 17 wounded Sunday after security forces shot in the neighborhood of Ras al-Nabi mosque where al-Rahman was a focal point of the anti-regime.

"The armed forces and security and gunmen besieged the city from all sides and fired continuously for several hours, "a university professor told AFP.