Syrian security forces shot dead at least 15 people today after tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets demanding the overthrow of president Bashar al-Assad, witnesses and activists said.
The Local Coordination Committees, a main activists' group, said it had the names of 14 civilians killed in the merchant city of Homs, the impoverished town of Kiswa south of Damascus and in the residential district of Barzeh in the capital.
Another protester was shot dead in the town of Qusair.
Syrian state television blamed the killings in Barzeh on armed men who authorities say are behind the violence in Syria's three-month uprising, and said members of security forces were wounded. Syria has expelled most foreign journalists making it hard to verify witness accounts or official statements.
"The security police first used teargas then they started shooting from rooftops when shouting against Assad continued," a resident of Barzeh who gave his name as Hussam said by phone. "Three youths were killed and I saw two bodies shot in the head and the chest."
In the central cities of Homs and Hama protesters shouted "the people want the downfall of the regime," while in Deraa, cradle of the uprising, people waved banners rejecting Dr Assad's promise in a speech this week to launch a national dialogue.
Deraa protesters chanted slogans urging people in Damascus, which has seen fewer demonstrations than rural protest centres, to follow their lead. "People of Damascus, here in Deraa we toppled the regime," they chanted.
Protests also erupted in western coastal cities and eastern provinces near Iraq. A day earlier Syrian troops swept to the northern border with Turkey, prompting another 1,500 refugees to flee across the frontier into camps which Turkish officials say now host more than 11,000 refugees.
Syrian television said today army units were "completing their deployment" in border villages. It said there had been no casualties during the operation and that soldiers were greeted with traditional welcomes of flowers and rice by residents.
Dr Assad's repression of the protests, in which Syrian rights groups say more than 1,300 civilians have been killed, has triggered western condemnation and a gradual escalation of US and EU economic sanctions against Syrian leaders.
The EU today announced extended sanctions against Syria, including against three commanders of Iran's Revolutionary Guard accused of helping Damascus curb dissent. Syria denies Iran has played any role in tackling the unrest.
Four Syrian officials were also targeted, bringing to 34 the number of individuals and entities on the list which already includes Dr Assad and his top officials.
Despite strong rhetoric among against Dr Assad from western leaders, there has been little suggestion they plan to go beyond economic sanctions to tougher action such as the military intervention launched against Libyan leader Muammar Gadafy.
The US, which has also imposed targeted sanctions on Syrian officials, said the reported Syrian army move to surround and target the town of Khirbat al-Joz just 500 metres from the Turkish border was a worrying new development.
"Unless the Syrian forces immediately end their attacks and their provocations that are not only now affecting their own citizens but [raising] the potential of border clashes, then we're going to see an escalation of conflict in the area," US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said.
Reuters