Crowds chant 'Syria, freedom!' as they take to streets in defiance of orders following reported killing of 34 citizens by armed forces
Thousands of Syrians have defied a crackdown by their government to take to the streets in Deraa in funeral marches for protesters killed by police gunfire, it has been reported.
Media access to the marches was restricted but sporadic bursts of gunfire could be heard echoing through the city on Thursday afternoon.
Shops were shuttered and streets were near empty as soldiers and anti-terrorism police stopped people at checkpoints. The security presence was at its heaviest level since the unrest began.
An activist told AP that massive crowds shouted "Syria, freedom!" as they marched towards a cemetery.
Others in Deraa held a sit-in in the al-Mahata area to protest about the killing of residents in clashes with security forces.
Inspired by the wave of pro-democracy protests around the region, the uprising in Deraa and nearby villages has become the biggest domestic challenge since the 1970s to the Syrian government, one of the most repressive in the Middle East.
Authorities have responded with water cannon, tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition.
Police launched a relentless assault on Wednesday on an area sheltering anti-government protesters, shooting many dead in an operation that lasted nearly 24 hours, witnesses said.
A resident of Deraa said that at least 34 people had reportedly been killed, with 20 or more bodies brought to Deraa national hospital and others taken elsewhere.
On Wednesday evening, residents of the nearby villages of Inkhil, Khirbet, Ghazale and al-Harrah tried to march on Deraa but security forces opened fire and hit them with rifle butts as they approached.
"It was a very difficult, bloody day," said the resident, who asked to remain anonymous. "There is a state of undeclared curfew in Deraa – whenever troops see four or five more people gathered they open fire.
"Deraa today is like a ghost town, we are very scared. Everything is closed and the streets are empty – everywhere you look there's security."
Presidential adviser Buthaina Shaaban said that 10 people were killed on Wednesday in what she called an attempt to target Syria because it supports resistance against Israel.
"What is being targeted is Syria's position, Syria's security and ability to be a pillar of resistance against Zionism and US schemes," she said.
She said the Syrian government had no objection to peaceful protests, and claimed that demonstrators in Deraa had attacked security forces.
"The demands of the people are being studied night and day and Syria will witness important decisions that meet the ambitions of our people," she said.
Abdul-Karim Rihawi, who heads the Syrian Human Rights League, said authorities had begun a campaign of detentions against activists, writers and bloggers in different parts of Syria.
Rihawi said the last to be detained was Mazen Darwish, a journalist who headed the independent Syrian media centre.
He said Darwish was summoned to a security office on Wednesday and has not been seen since. Also detained were writer Loay Hussein and blogger Ahmad Hdaithi.
"These arrests will only increase tension," Rihawi said.
The protesters have a Facebook page called the Syrian Revolution 2011, where they have been posting statements.
One posted on Thursday held President Bashar Assad responsible for the violence and called on ordinary Syrians to hold protests in all provinces on Friday, which it dubbed "Dignity Friday".
An official at the Deraa national hospital told AP by telephone that it had received a large number of casualties on Wednesday and was "overwhelmed" with wounded people.
He said the hospital had not received any new casualties since Wednesday night.
Videos posted by activists on YouTube and Twitter showed dead and wounded people lying on a street in Deraa as heavy gunfire crackled nearby and people shouted in panic.
One video showed a man with a bloodied face, apparently shot in the head, raising his index finger and saying "There is no God but Allah" – the credo Muslims are required to say before they die.
The authenticity of the videos could not be independently confirmed.
In a tacit admission that the protests hitting the Arab world have reached Syria, Vice-President Farouk al-Sharaa said that "the developments in the Arab world should be a catalyst to build nations and not for undermining national unity".