At least eight Syrian civilians were killed Friday in the repression of demonstrations against the regime of Bashar al-Assad, including four on the outskirts of Damascus, announced the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a nongovernmental organization based in London.
Three people “were shot when security forces were deployed to disperse hundreds of demonstrators” in the town of Qatana, said by telephone Rami Abdel Abdel Rahman, director of the organization.
Another protester was killed in the neighborhood of the Zabadani, he added.
The organization announced previously that three civilians were killed on Friday morning, in Daelim city in the south, when authorities opened fire to disperse another opposition rally.
These three men have been riddled with bullets while they were on rooftops and chanted “Allah is great”, said the organization.
Another death was recorded in Jableh, near the coastal town of Latakia (west), Rami Abdel Abdel Rahman added.
These deaths occurred in the context that the Baath Party regime opponents took to the streets Friday in several Syrian cities, after the midday prayer.
During the repression of the demonstrations exerted by the Syrian regime, 1,000 people were killed and another 10,000 have been arrested since the outbreak of protests in the country in mid-March.
No independent verification can be performed by the foreign press, because of the total ban imposed by the authorities.