At least 30 people were killed Friday by security forces in Syria as pro-democracy protesters took to the streets in several parts of the country defying a harsh government clampdown, according to opposition activists quoted by dpa. Six villagers were killed by troops hunting for army defectors in Halfaia, in the central city of Hama, reported the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The other deaths occurred in the capital Damascus, the dissident city of Homs, in central Syria, and Jabal al-Zawiya in the province of Idlib near the border with Turkey, said the observatory. Footage posted on the internet by activists on Friday showed protesters in the southern province of Daraa, chanting slogans against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and demanding his ouster. Huge anti-government demonstrations were reported after the Friday noon prayers in other areas of Syria as the protests entered a seventh month. Security forces besieged mosques in the Al-Meedan area of Damascus to prevent protests from taking place, Omar Idlibi, a spokesman for the Local Coordination Committees - a network of opposition activists-told the German Press Agency dpa. Security forces, meanwhile, fired indiscriminately on demonstrators in Hama and Homs, activists told broadcaster Al Jazeera.
