Syrian authorities kill three suspected terrorists (2nd Roundup)

Oct 10, 2008, 1:22 GMT

Damascus/Beirut - Syrian forces shot dead three armed terrorism suspects in a Palestinian refugee camp south of Damascus, witnesses told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

One security force member was injured in the attack at Yarmouk refugee camp. Another person was wounded, Lebanon's privately owned Dunia television network reported.

'One of the men, who was wearing an explosives belt, was overpowered by the Syrian security forces,' the network reported.

Other Lebanese media reported that four terrorists were killed in the incident.

On September 27, terrorists killed 17 people in an attack near Damascus airport. Another 14 people were wounded.

Meanwhile, Syrian security forces arrested 48 suspected fundamentalists after keeping several cells under surveillance, the website Now Lebanon reported, quoting a source close to Syrian authorities.

The stepped-up surveillance follows Syria's improved relations with the West, with the authorities now taking measures to counter terrorism and fundamentalism.

In the past, such cells were either protected or ignored, as they were part of the resistance to the US occupation of Iraq. 'The Syrian authorities have recently removed all support to these cells,' the source was quoted as saying.