500 army, security forces personnel killed in Syrian protests: analyst

Ibrahim told Xinhua in a phone interview that the personnel were killed by "armed criminal groups" that were targeting both the military and civilians.

The groups also wounded 2,500 army and security forces personnel, he added.

Unprecedented protests erupted in mid-March in the southern Syrian city of Daraa when the authorities arrested 15 teenagers for anti-government graffiti writings on a school wall. The protests have extended to most of Syrian provinces including Damascus.

Human rights groups accused the army and security forces of killing at least 960 citizens and arresting some 1,000 people.

The Syria authorities blamed much of the violence on foreign- backed armed terrorist cells that seek to stir unrest in the country.

The United States and the Europe Union have condemned Damascus' crackdown on peaceful protests and imposed sanctions on the embattled President Bashar al-Assad and his inner circle for human rights abuses. Kazinform cites Xinhua. See www.xinhuanet.com