This Ongoing War: A Blog: 6-Jun-11: What's actually going on in Syria?

This Ongoing War: A Blog: 6-Jun-11: What's actually going on in Syria?: "35 reported killed in crackdown in northern SyriaSyria uses pro-regime gunmen to crush protests
By ZEINA KARAM - Associated Press
BEIRUT (AP) -- The death toll in a government security crackdown in two northern Syrian towns rose to 35 Sunday, human rights groups said. Exiled opposition figures said any dialogue now with President Bashar Assad's regime would be a joke. Rami Abdul-Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the deaths in the town of Jisr al-Shughour and nearby Khan Sheikhoun included six policemen. The operation is part of a crackdown that began Saturday. Human rights groups say more than 1,200 people have died in the brutal crackdown against anti-government protesters since March."