DARAA, Syria - March 23, 2011 - Human rights activists said at least 15 people were killed on Wednesday in the volatile Syrian city of Daraa, hub of a week of anti-regime protests, as anger reportedly spread to neighbouring towns.
Activists and residents said security forces opened fire on protesters outside the Omari mosque early in the day, after hundreds of people gathered overnight to prevent police from storming it.
A funeral for two of those killed on Wednesday also came under fire, according to unnamed activists, and shooting continued sporadically during the day.
Wednesday's killings bring the reported death toll to 21 in Daraa, a mainly Sunni tribal city near the Jordanian border.
The town has been hit by daily protests for the past week against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, whose Baath party has ruled Syria for 40 years.
An AFP reporter saw two bodies in the city hospital shortly after gunfire erupted on Wednesday afternoon around the mosque, where activists have been holed up for a week.
An 11-year-old girl was killed by a stray bullet when security forces allegedly opened fire on a funeral for two of those killed overnight, an unnamed activist said.
Unidentified activists in Daraa have given conflicting reports on the number of deaths.
One said at least nine people died in Wednesday's attack on the mosque, including a child, a woman and two members of the security forces, and six more were killed in attacks on a funeral.
"At least thirteen were killed in the overnight attack on the mosque, and we estimate five or six were shot dead during the funeral procession," said another.
Assad's government has promised to probe the Daraa killings, but analysts warn that the situation is turning increasingly volatile.
By Wednesday, the rising anger had begun to spread to neighboring areas.
