Women protest in Banias

SMN No. 16, April 13, 2011

After days of protests and violent crack-down by the security forces in the coastal city of Banias, yesterday the women of the town took to the streets. Footage on Youtube and images spread on Facebook show a large group of women of all ages protesting, carrying branches from olive trees as a symbol of peace.

According to reports from the news agency AFP, thousands of women staged a sit-in on a main highway in north-eastern Syria to demand the release of hundreds of people arrested in protests in the region. On Sunday, security forces had opened fire on protesters, killing some and wounding dozens, eye witnesses said.