Lifeless Body Dragged Through Streets Of Syria

A video posted on a social media site on Friday shows a body of a man being dragged through the streets of Syria leaving a trail of blood after members of security forces beat the lifeless body with batons.

A video posted on a social media website apparently showed Syrian security forces beating the body of a protester lying on the street before dragging the lifeless body along the road in Deraa, a predominantly Sunni Muslim city where anti-government protests first erupted in March.

Once-unthinkable public dissent challenging President Bashar al-Assad's authoritarian rule has spread across Syria despite his attempts to defuse resentment by making some gestures towards reform in the tightly-controlled country of 20 million.

A Syrian rights group said on Sunday that 26 protesters had been killed in Deraa and two in Homs province after security forces opened fire on a peaceful gathering on Friday, rather than on Saturday as it had initially reported.

Syria has prevented news media from reporting from Deraa and mobile phone lines there appeared to be cut on Sunday.