Security Forces

Security forces opened fire on antigovernment protesters when they awoke for prayers Saturday morning near Sana University, killing at least one and injuring hundreds, witnesses said. Security forces used tasers, tear gas, water cannons and live ammunition against the camped-out protesters, witnesses said. A government statement said the forces moved against the protesters at the request of residents in the area who felt besieged. The statement said the live ammunition was used by unaffiliated "third parties.

Saudi security forces on Thursday dispersed a protest by Shiite Muslims in restive Eastern province with percussion grenades and rubber bullets, wounding five people, witnesses in the city of Qatif said. The crackdown heightened fear that nationwide demonstrations scheduled in Saudi Arabia for Friday could turn violent. The Shiite minority has long complained about religious and employment discrimination in the Sunni Muslim-dominated kingdom. They have been holding more frequent protests in the last few weeks, demanding equal treatment and the freeing of political prisoners.

Syrian security forces reportedly killed at least 16 people in Syria's third-largest city Tuesday amid allegations that the government of President Bashar Assad was attempting to bolster its widely challenged rule by intensifying the country's sectarian tensions. The shootings took place at a funeral procession for victims of the ongoing violence in the city of Homs, about 90 miles north of Damascus. Amateur video posted to the Internet by activists showed panicked residents fleeing amid the roar of automatic weapons fire.

Violent mass demonstrations across Syria's cities, towns and villages were met with indiscriminate gunfire by security forces loyal to President Bashar Assad, killing dozens of people and hardening the divide between a regime determined to keep power and increasingly fearless protesters demanding the overthrow of the government. Tens and perhaps hundreds of thousands of demonstrators poured into the streets of Syrian cities after weekly prayers on a day dubbed "Great Friday" by protest leaders.

Unable to stem a growing popular uprising with promises of reform, ceaseless propaganda and restrictions on the news media, Syria's government still retains one powerful weapon: the solid support of a secretive web of security forces that so far show no signs of abandoning President Bashar Assad and his Baath Party. More protests broke out Thursday in Aleppo, Syria's second-largest city, despite the interior minister's demand for civil disobedience to end. Activists are gearing up for another day of widespread protests Friday, when they hope to flood the center of Damascus, the capital, with demonstrators.

Despite U.S. efforts to promote diversity in Iraq's security forces, the composition of the nation's police and military organizations remains lopsided in favor of the Kurdish and religious Shiite political slates that have dominated the interim government, according to preliminary results from the Dec. 15 parliamentary election.

Violent clashes erupted Thursday in downtown Tehran between thousands of defiant protesters chanting "Death to the dictator" and security forces wielding truncheons, as the political crisis over Iran's disputed presidential election stretched into its fourth week.

The Iraqi commission charged with removing former members of the outlawed Baath Party from office announced Thursday a sweeping purge of Iraq's security forces, in a move likely to heighten political tensions before national elections next month. Ali Lami, executive director of the Accountability and Justice Commission, said he had sent the names of 580 members of the security forces to the Ministries of Defense, Interior and National Intelligence. He said the individuals should be removed from their posts because of alleged ties to Saddam Hussein's Baath Party.

Under pressure from Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the Afghan government on Wednesday authorized the creation of additional local security forces as a stopgap measure for rural areas where the Taliban remains strong, U.S. defense officials said. The move comes after more than a week of talks between Petraeus and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who initially opposed the idea of creating new village security forces, fearing the units could turn into militias beyond the government's control.