Syrian Forces Kill 4 in University Raid

Syrian security forces stormed student dorms at a university in the northern city of Aleppo following anti-government protests there last night, killing at least four students and wounding several others with tear gas and live ammunition, activists and opposition groups say. Around 1,500 students had been protesting in student quarters adjacent to Aleppo University's main campus when security forces and pro-regime gunmen swept into their residences, firing tear gas at first, then live ammunition to disperse them.

Activists say dozens, possibly hundreds, of students were arrested and students who attempted to flee the raid were followed to their rooms and beaten. Aleppo, Syria's largest city, has been largely spared from the violence that has plagued other Syrian cities, but the university students have been staging almost daily protests calling for the fall of Assad's regime. Syria's persistent bloodshed has tarnished efforts by a UN team of observers to salvage a truce that started to unravel almost as soon as it was supposed to begin. (More Syria stories.)