Homs: At least six people have been killed as thousands attended anti-government protests across Syria after Friday prayers, human rights activists say. Three died in the country’s third largest city, Homs, when security forces opened fire on demonstrators.
Two were killed in a northern suburb of the capital, Damascus, and another died in a village near Deraa in the south.
Earlier, an opposition leader said President Bashar al-Assad had promised troops would not fire on protesters.
Louai al-Hussain was quoting a presidential adviser, Buthaina Shaaban, after talks with officials to negotiate an end to the crisis.
Ms Shaaban made a similar statement when demonstrations began in mid-March. As many as 850 people may have been killed since then.
Homs has been the scene of a major military operation since Monday. Areas have been shelled by tanks, and troops have been conducting house-to-house searches and arrests to find or intimidate protesters.
The Syrian government says it is pursuing “armed terrorist gangs”, which it blames for the deaths of about 98 soldiers and members of the security services nationwide, and 22 police officers.
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