Syrian security forces shot dead a mourner in the central city of Homs on Saturday and wounded many more, a witness said, at a mass funeral for people killed in the latest crackdown on protests against President Bashar al-Assad. The funeral at Nasr cemetery, during which mourners shouted "overthrow the regime", was for 10 demonstrators killed by security forces in Homs on Friday, said the witness, who was at the funeral and spoke to Reuters by telephone.
Tens of mourners were wounded, he said, adding that he saw five people with gunshot wounds in their legs and arms being taken to hospital. Security forces also fired live rounds at a demonstration in the Damascus suburb of Saqba, a witness said, speaking by telephone from the suburb of 40,000. "A large demonstration calling for the overthrow of the regime had been going on since the afternoon. It felt like the whole of Saqba took to the streets. Security forces entered in the evening and started firing," said the witness.
Syria has barred most international media since the protests broke out two months ago, making it impossible to verify independently accounts from activists and officials. The latest violence came as the Syrian National Organisation for Human Rights said security forces had killed at least 44 civilians on Friday in attacks on pro-democracy demonstrations across Syria.
Prominent rights campaigner Ammar Qurabi, who heads of the organisation, said more than half were killed in the north-west province of Idlib, where tanks deployed on Friday to crush large demonstrations against Assad's rule. The protests broke out in defiance of a military crackdown that another rights group says has killed more than 800 civilians in the past nine weeks. Assad has largely dismissed the protests as serving a foreign-backed conspiracy to sow sectarian strife.
Syrian authorities blame most of the violence on armed groups, backed by Islamists and outside powers, who they say have killed more than 120 soldiers and police. They have recently suggested they believe the protests have peaked. Syria said on Saturday armed groups killed 17 people on Friday in the provinces of Idlib and Homs to the south. The state news agency said the civilians, police and security forces were killed after armed groups exploited the commitment of police forces to instructions by the Interior Ministry "not to shoot, to preserve the lives of civilians".