BEIRUT — Activists say government troops have killed at least 50 people, including 13 children, in attacks in the central Syria.
The activists say President Bashar Assad's forces opened fire Friday with heavy machine guns, tanks and mortars in Houla, a region that includes several towns and villages in the central province of Homs.
Sufian Allaw said the sanctions levied by the United States and the European Union to put pressure on President Bashar Assad were to blame for the shortages that have left Syria ns across the country standing in long lines to pay inflated prices for cooking gas and other products.
This image made from amateur video released by Shaam News Network and accessed Friday, May 25, 2012 purports to show police running toward a protest in Damascus, Syria. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video) TV OUT, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees both say at least 50 people were killed.
The Observatory says the dead included 13 children, and that some 100 people were wounded.
Homs has been among the hardest hit provinces in a government crackdown since an uprising against Assad's regime began in March last year. The U.N. said several weeks ago that 9,000 people have been killed in Syria in the past 15 months.