Syrian protests spread in numbers and frequency as Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces shoot to kill, wound an Olympic boxing champ and confiscate mobile phone videos.

Demonstrations have become a daily event and now are occurring simultaneously in several cities, restricting the ability of the army and secret police to suppress what is becoming a national rebellion against the Assad regime.

At least seven more people were killed in the last 24 hours, most of them in the large city of Hama, north of Damascus, where protesters had a free hand in the past month until soldiers swooped down on the city Monday. In early June, Assad’s troops had killed more than 70 people in the city of 800,000.

Assad’s father, Hafez al-Assad, sent troops into the city in 1982, when 20,000 residents were gunned down or died from starvation during a siege.

One of those wounded Monday was boxer Nasser al-Shami, 29. A 13-year-old was also wounded, opposition activists said. They might become new symbols for the protest movement, which has been hampered by the lack of a cohesive symbol and leadership. Al-Shami is in stable condition, a human rights official told the London Guardian.

Assad’s growing fear of the Arab Spring uprising is indicated by the confiscation of mobile phones that have been used to tape  protests and government violence. They have been crucial for activists’ efforts to disseminate information outside the country. Assad’s regime has barred  foreign correspondents, and the official news agency constantly reports of huge pro-Assad rallies while calling opposition forces ”armed thugs” and "terrorists" sponsored by Western elements.

Soldiers in armored personnel carriers also cut telecommunications in a suburb of Damascus, which so far has been immune to large protests. One of Assad’s assets is the large middle class that is dependent on the government for employment, particularly in the capital.