Al Jazeera is at ground zero of the Syrian crackdown:
"Deraa has been under siege since Monday morning. Residents from the surrounding villages were trying to break the siege as they tried to get supplies. They met with hostile security forces who fired at them and we know that at least 15 people were killed. One resident told me that that people do not have supplies, no communication, the situation is dire and they wonder what the security forces want from the town," [Al Jazeera's Rula Amin] said.
MSNBC is now putting that death toll at 42. Updates at AJE's live-blog. Enduring America is updating more frequently:
1801 GMT: … The AFP is also noting that four soldiers are among the dead in Daraa. The real development there, however, is the reports that these soldiers were killed by other soldiers when they refused to fire on protesters. If true, it is the first time (that I am aware of) that we have seen reliable reports of cracks in the unity of the security forces. …
1729 GMT: Syrian human rights activist Mohammad Al abdallah (Tweeting from Washington, D.C.) has this report. We will watch this development, but have no way to verify this information yet: "Eyewitness: Lt. Alaa Alcoaiti has been killed by a security officer in#Khalidiya #Homs after he refused to fire on the protesters #Syria"
Peter Harling takes stock of the increasingly desperate situation in Syria:
The primary benefit of observing events from [Damascus] is to measure just how unreliable all sources of information have become. Local media tell a tale of accusations and denials in which, incredibly, security services are the sole victims, persecuted by armed gangs. Where the regime initially acknowledged civilian martyrs and sought to differentiate between legitimate grievances and what it characterized as sedition, such efforts have come to an end.
The above video was shot in Deraa today. James Miller is compiling fresh clips.
The Dish 