Post by Salem6 on Mar 14, 2004 0:37:29 GMT
Fourteen people were killed on Friday and Saturday in clashes between Kurds and the police in northern Syria, the Kurdish Syrian party has said.
On Friday, nine people were killed and more than 100 injured after fighting erupted at a premier league football match in the city of Qameshli.
Some of the victims died in a stampede as fans tried to escape the fighting.
Five people were shot dead by police on Saturday as rioters protested at the funerals of those killed a day earlier.
The unrest continued later on Saturday, and Qameshli, together with the nearby Kurdish towns of Hassakeh and Amuda, was placed under curfew.
Witnesses said there were at least eight military helicopters flying over Qameshli and there are reports of military reinforcements being sent to the area.
There are also reports of demonstrations in the capital, Damascus, and of military deployments in the capital.
Shots fired
Saturday's riot erupted as a crowd of Kurds buried three of the victims of Friday's violence between fans of the al-Fatwa and al-Jihad teams.
Mourners shouted anti-government slogans and attacked shops and government buildings, setting fire to a department of customs office, according to one witness.
Police fired shots into the air to disperse crowds trying to protest in the main street, another witness said.
This is a rare outburst of popular anger and violence in the tightly controlled Syrian state and is a sign of growing Kurdish discontent, says the BBC's Kim Ghattas.
Syria's Kurds have no say in politics and no social or cultural rights.
Syria fears the creation of a Kurdish state which would threaten its territorial unity.
Stampede
Six people died from shot wounds and three children were trampled to death in the Qameshli stadium violence.
A further 100 people were injured, with eight still receiving treatment on Saturday, according to hospital officials.
A shouting match had erupted between Syrian Arabs and Syrian Kurds when police intervened.
Spectators inside the stadium were crushed in a stampede to escape the violence and people outside were caught in a fight between supporters of the two teams.
Witnesses said there were between 5,000 and 7,000 spectators at the game.
Some of the 2,000 visiting fans threw sticks and stones at the home supporters, they said.
One witness said: "We had nothing to defend ourselves with because we were not expecting this so we had to run and there was a stampede."
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3508710.stm