The southern Syrian city of Daraa is simmering with opposition protests Wednesday with 15 pro-democracy protesters reportedly shot dead by secret police and a prominent opposition leader arrested.
 
Protesters had gathered around a mosque in the southern city of Daraa, where many of the opposition protests in Syria to date have occurred, when a 24-hour assault on protesters by the Syrian police began around midnight.  Fifteen protesters were ultimately killed, including a doctor who went to the mosque in order to help treat the victims, according to The Guardian.
 
Meanwhile, opposition organizer Loay Hussein was taken from his home near the capital, Damascus, by Syrian police on Wednesday, according to CNN.
 
Hussein had been involved in organizing a mass protest scheduled for Friday in Syria, according to information organizers provided CNN.
 
Plainclothes Syrian secret police have reportedly been rounding up random people on the streets in Daraa:
 

 
Hundreds of protesters have been taking to the streets, burning cars and calling for an end to the rule of dictator Bashar al-Assad:
 

Reach Executive Producer Mary Slosson here.  Follow her on Twitter @maryslosson.