Syrian security forces shot dead at least two people as they opened fire to disperse protesters urging countries to expel Syria’s ambassadors on Friday, activists said.
State television, meanwhile, said three security forces were killed and an officer critically wounded in a bomb blast in the restive central city of Hama.
One man was killed in the central protest city of Homs and a 14-year-old boy was shot in the southern town of Daraa, cradle of anti-regime protests that have swept Syria since mid-march, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Several people were wounded in Homs, in the Damascus suburb of Harasta and in Maaret Numan, in the northwestern province of Idlib, as security forces fired at protesters taking to the streets after midday Muslim prayers, it said.
The Britain-based watchdog also reported that 16 people were arrested in raids by security forces in Maaret Numan.
Activists said Syrian forces were massively deployed in several parts of the country and had surrounded mosques to prevent worshippers from spilling onto the streets after the weekly midday prayers to join protests.
