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BEIRUT — Syrian commanders told security forces they were fighting terrorists and ordered them to open fire on anti-regime demonstrations even after they found unarmed protesters instead, Human Rights Watch said Saturday in a report citing defectors from President Bashar Assad’s regime.
The New York-based group quoted some of the defectors as saying that they feared they could have been shot themselves if they refused to obey orders. One reported seeing a military officer shoot dead two soldiers in the southern city of Daraa for that reason.
Assad’s regime has used a mix of violence and tentative promises of reform to try subdue a 16-week uprising. Activists say 1,600 civilians have been killed in four months of violence.
