According to anonymous sources who are forbidden to speak on the record, Syrian Security forces have killed at least thirty two protesters during demonstrations in a number of cities in Syria. This time, the protest spread along the streets of the capital city, Damascus with thousands of anti-government supporters marching in the streets. Up to this point, the protests have stayed mostly to other cities, leaving Damascus relatively quiet. Now, there have been protesters there, belying the government stance that the protests are largely conspiracies by foreigners and that there is only a few rebels in outlying areas. And, now, there has been blood shed there as well.

President Bashar Assad assumed power in 2000 amid great hopes that he would change some of the policies of the country, described as one of the strictest in the area. But, brutal government crackdowns put an end to those hopes for most of the people including those who have decided that the time has come to end the regime’s four decade long rule.

Activists, including those who have been involved in the uprisings have estimated that as many as 1600 people have been killed by the regime since the crackdown but Syria’s government officials have disputed this number as nothing but propaganda. There may have been some deaths and some other issues, but the blame is not on the security forces but on gangs and foreigners.

Syria has banned all media outlets from the country and there are a number of very strict restrictions on the reporters, including on what they can talk about and what they can say.

Assad has pointed out that there have been no protests in Damascus and that all of the alleged protests have been in “marginal” cities only. Hama, Syria’s fourth largest city has been a stronghold of the opposition since June but is reporting serious problems from a lack of food and medicine.

In addition to the 1600 who have been reportedly killed by Syrian forces, there are an addition 15,000 or more that are being held for unspecified reasons and have been since the first of the uprisings in March.

The Iranian supreme leader, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenini is pledging nearly six billion dollars in aid to bolster the Syrian economy. That aid would include immediate money in the form of a loan but may also provide other assistance, including oil and border support to prevent Syrian people from leaving the country.

There have been a number of Syrians fleeing the country, most heading to Turkey or to Lebanon. One of those people was the young man who has been telling his story in the US, giving the details about his role as a government trained sniper. That man, deserted with twenty other members of his division after being ordered to fire on unarmed snipers. Unconfirmed reports suggest that as many as 2000 soldiers have deserted in the last few months. In one video, the snipers are shown shooting at obvious medical personnel.