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Syrian troops 'kill protesters after Friday prayers' | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Syrian security forces have shot dead at least nine people as mass protests have again swept across the country after Friday prayers, activists say. | |
Witnesses said at least three people were killed when shots were fired into a protest in the central city of Homs. | |
Fatalities are also being reported at protests in other parts of Syria. | |
The rallies come a day after US President Barack Obama called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to lead a transition to democracy or "get out". | |
"The Syrian government must stop shooting demonstrators and allow peaceful protests," he said in a key policy speech about the Middle East and North Africa on Thursday. | |
In response, the Syrian government accused Mr Obama of meddling "in the internal affairs of the region's countries, including Syria", and said his speech amounted to "incitement". | |
At least 850 people have been killed in weeks of demonstrations against Mr Assad's regime, human rights groups say. | |
'Gunfire and sticks' | |
Protest organisers in Homs said security forces had fired live rounds at thousands of people who had gathered in the city. Reports on the number of dead varied from three to seven. | |
The coastal city of Baniyas - which was subject to a crackdown by soldiers and tanks earlier this month - witnessed one of its largest demonstrations yet, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. | |
Thousands of men, women and children took to the streets, with many of the men baring their chests to show they were not armed, the organisation told the AFP news agency. | |
One witness said security forces were trying to disperse the protesters using gunfire and sticks. | |
There are reports coming in of tear gas being fired on thousands of protesters in the city of Hama, north of Homs, and tanks storming the northern town of Maarat al-Numan. | |
The Local Co-ordination Committees in Syria, which have been helping organise the protests, put the number of dead in Homs at seven, and said one person had been killed in the Damascus suburb of Daraya and one in the southern village of al-Sanamain. | |
Reports from Syria are hard to verify independently, as foreign journalists are not allowed into the country. | Reports from Syria are hard to verify independently, as foreign journalists are not allowed into the country. |