23 April 2011 Last updated at 07:33 ET Funerals are being held in Syria for anti-government protesters killed on Friday, with reports of fresh protests and at least five more deaths.

Witnesses said shots had been fired at a funerals in a suburb of Damascus, and near the southern village of Izraa.

Large crowds attending funerals were reported to be chanting anti-government slogans.

Scores of protesters were killed on Friday, the deadliest day in five weeks of unrest.

The bloodshed, which came a day after President Bashar al-Assad scrapped decades of emergency rule, brought strong international condemnation.

Syria's state news agency has reported a limited number of protests in some provinces and described the violence was the work of armed criminal gangs.

'Brutal tactics' On Saturday, Reuters news agency quoted witnesses as saying tens of thousands of people turned out for funerals, chanting for the overthrow of the regime.

More than 150 buses had left the southern town of Deraa, an epicentre for demonstrations, to attend funerals for 18 victims, AFP news agency quoted an activist as saying.

One activist said Syrian security forces had fired on mourners travelling to funerals in Izraa, in an effort to prevent them from attending.

The reports could not immediately be verified.

Funerals were also expected in the Damascus neighbourhoods of Midan and Barzeh, as well as in Harasta, north of the capital.

Human rights groups and activists gave death tolls for Friday ranging from just over 70 to more than 90, and one group said the death toll could reach 100.

Many of the deaths were reported to have occurred in the central city of Homs, in Izraa in the south, and in a suburb of the capital, Damascus.

Video footage showed protesters scattering as they apparently came under fire.

Continue reading the main story Analysis

The issue of the video footage has definitely rattled and upset the regime, and they are hitting back with allegations that the whole thing is a put-up job.

I think the protesters are getting quite organised and maybe distributing better cameras as well. Certainly it's very impressive that within half an hour of a protest beginning the pictures start flowing.

I think quite a few of them are using international SIM cards in their mobile phones so that they can get around any attempts locally to block communications.

The state is responding to that with statements coming on the official news agency saying that these are fake videos that the army found people carrying bottles of blood in order to make up fake incidents which they would then film and distribute pictures of.


Amnesty International said two boys aged seven and 10 were among those killed in Izraa.

Growing confidence "This outrageous use of violence to quell protests must come to an end now," Mr Obama said of Friday's clashes.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an independent investigation into the killings, while France said it was "extremely concerned" and condemned the violence.

"Light should be shed on these crimes and those responsible must be identified, arrested and brought to justice," foreign ministry deputy spokeswoman Christine Fages said.

The BBC's Kim Ghattas reports from neighbouring Lebanon that the crowds across Syria on Friday are proof, if any was needed, that Mr Assad's concessions were belated and too symbolic.

The persistence of the demonstrations shows the growing strength and confidence of the protest movement, she says.

With foreign journalists unable to get into Syria, much of the reporting of the country has depended on footage distributed by opposition activists.

The official Syrian news agency said security forces had used only tear gas and water cannon to prevent clashes on Friday.

It said the army had found digital cameras containing short, fabricated videos depicting fake repression, and that armed gangs were carrying bottles of blood to be used in making fake films.

Are you in Syria? Send us your comments using the form below:


Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7725 100 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.

Read the terms and conditions






Article Source : BBC News

Similar Newsgab Articles: