DAMASCUS (AFP) – Security forces fired on demonstrations killing 11 people as tens of thousands of anti-regime protesters surged onto Syrian streets after Friday prayers, and the EU turned up the heat on Damascus.
The demonstrations were in response to a call by the Facebook group Syrian Revolution 2011, one of the motors of protests against the autocratic rule of President Bashar al-Assad that have rocked Syria since mid-March.
"Security forces tried to break up a rally calling for the fall of the regime with tear gas before opening fire" killing three people and injuring 25 others, an activist in the Damascus neighbourhood of Barzeh said, reached by telephone.
They also opened fire on demonstrators in the town of Kiswah south of Damascus, killing at least five people, another activist told AFP.
"Demonstrators left the mosque after Friday prayers and marched for a few minutes until security forces opened fire to disperse them, killing five people and wounding six others," rights activist Mohammad Enad Suleiman said.
Three people were killed in the central city of Homs and 20 others wounded when security forces opened fire on the crowd of protesters, an activist at the scene told AFP.
Demonstrations also rocked many other cities, including the eastern oil hub of Deir Ezzor where 30,000 protesters filled the streets, and neighbouring Median, said Rami Abdel Rahman who heads the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Syria's state television blamed the civilians deaths in Barzeh on "armed men" whom it said also opened fire on security forces, wounding several of them including an officer.
The state broadcaster added that a police officer was also killed by gunfire in the Damascus suburb of Kadam while the official SANA news agency reported that "several members of the security forces were hit by gunfire in Kiswah."
Syria blames the violence on "armed terrorist gangs" and says the protests are being orchestrated from abroad.
Syrian rights groups say that more than 1,300 people have been killed and while 10,000 have been arrested in the regime's brutal crackdown against dissent since the protests first erupted on March 15.
Friday's protests were held under the banner, "Fall of legitimacy" and a message on the Facebook page read, "Bashar is no longer my president and his government no longer represents me."
The crackdown on dissent has sent nearly 12,000 Syrians fleeing to safety in neighbouring Turkey, prompting concerns from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who warned of the risk of a regional escalation.
The European Union warned Assad's regime that its legitimacy was undermined by the brutal crackdown.
EU leaders holding a summit in Brussels were expected on Friday to adopt a declaration condemning the "unacceptable and shocking violence the Syrian regime continues to apply on its own citizen," said a draft obtained by AFP.
"By choosing a path of repression instead of fulfilling its own promises on broad reforms, the regime is calling its legitimacy into question," it said. "Those responsible for crimes and violence against civilians shall be held accountable."
The EU declaration also calls for the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution slamming the crackdown -- a move opposed by veto-wielding member Russia.
The EU this week issued fresh sanctions against Syria, which expanded a blacklist targeting 23 top leaders including the embattled president Assad.
Syria has reacted angrily to the EU sanctions, with Foreign Minister Walid Muallem saying this week they were "equivalent to war" and denying receiving assistance from Iran.
Meanwhile the number of Syrians sheltering in Turkey has approached 12,000 after some 1,500 refugees poured across the border on Thursday and Friday, officials said in Ankara.
The influx has triggered concern in Washington, particularly as the flow came after Syrian troops stormed border villages including Khirbet al-Joz, where many of the displaced had massed, according to activists.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the Syrian troop build-up was "worrisome" and could increase the changes of a border clash and "only exacerbate the already unstable refugee situation in Syria."
The exodus has prompted Turkey to build a giant tent city along the border with Syria to expand a Red Crescent camp where more than 200 tents have already been erected.
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