At least 17 people were killed on Friday during anti-regime protests held in the southern Syria city of Dara'a. According to eyewitnesses, Syrian security forces opened fire on demonstrators. The sound of machine-gun fire was also heard Friday during a demonstration demanding democracy in the suburb of Damascus, Harasta.
In the central city of Homs, residents said hundreds took to the streets after Friday prayers, chanting slogans demanding freedom, a day after the announcement by President Bashar al-Assad about the dismissal of the Governor in an attempt to appease the people.
Meanwhile, activists said protests against the ruling Baath Party held in a number of Kurdish areas in eastern Syria, one day after al-Assad vowed to grant citizenship to some Kurds as part of the government's attempt to calm the situation. Activists and witnesses said that thousands of Kurds, mostly young people, marched in the streets of the city of Qamishli in the north east of the country. They shouted slogans such as: "We salute the martyrs of Dara'a.
