7 killed in Syria protest: witness

NICOSIA: Syrian security forces opened fire on protesters on Friday north of Damascus and in the south of the country, killing at least seven people, a witness and a human rights activist told AFP.

At least six protesters fell in Douma, 15 kilometres (nine miles) north of the Syrian capital when police opened fire after protesters emerging from a mosque pelted them with stones, the witness told AFP by telephone.

The security forces fired tear gas at the protesters to disperse them before firing live rounds.

The death toll could be more than 10, said the witness, but he only provided AFP four full names for those killed: Ibrahim Mubayed, Ahmad Rajab, Fuad Ballah and Mohammed Alaya, as well as a person from the Khuli family and another from the Issa family.

"Dozens of people were also wounded and the security forces arrested dozens of others," the witness said, adding that police are arresting some of the wounded and preventing them from going to hospital for treatment.

A Syrian official questioned by AFP in Damascus could not confirm the report. According to the witness in Douma, around 3,000 worshippers took to the streets after the weekly prayers, emerging from different mosques in the town.

Terrified residents cowered indoors as snipers deployed on rooftops opened fire on anyone who went outside, the witness said, adding that security forces ringed Douma letting in only residents with the right ID cards.

Meanwhile at least three people were killed in the southern village of Sanamen near the flashpoint city of Daraa, when security forces opened fire to disperse a protest, a human rights activist said.

But he could identify only one of the victims, Yasser al-Shumari, in his 20s, who was shot dead as he entered Sanamen with a group of protesters from two nearby villages, Ankhal and Jassem.

There was no independent confirmation of the report.

Protests calling for major reform and an end to nearly five decades of emergency law broke out in Syria in mid-March, with Daraa quickly becoming the hub of the dissent. (AFP)