BICOM

A student was killed yesterday at a rally by opponents of the Assad regime at Damascus University. Security forces raided the gathering, according to reports, and the student was shot or beaten to death. Because of severe restrictions on reporting in Syria, the precise details of the incident have not been clarified. The Syrian military has now entered the port city of Banias, where yesterday 2,000 people took part in demonstrations. Four people were killed during protests in Banias on Sunday. The Assad regime is continuing to blame the violence on unidentified ‘armed thugs.’ Official Syrian media is claiming that nine soldiers were killed by gunmen near Banias yesterday. Syrian oppositionists fear that this announcement could be the prelude to a severe crackdown in the area. The spread of protests to the coast has severely unnerved the regime and its supporters, according to opposition sources, making an extreme response more likely.