There were protests after the funerals of those killed in an overnight raid At least 10 people have been killed and dozens wounded after Syrian police opened fire on people protesting against the deaths of anti-government demonstrators in Deraa, witnesses say.
Hundreds of youths from nearby villages were shot at when they tried to march into the centre of the southern city. A Syrian human rights activist told the BBC that at least 37 had died.
Troops also reportedly shot at people attending the funerals of six people killed in a raid on a mosque overnight.
Before the violence on Wednesday afternoon, at least 12 people had been killed in clashes with the security forces in the southern city.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for a "transparent investigation" and for those responsible to be held accountable.
The US state department has said it is "deeply concerned by the Syrian government's use of violence, intimidation and arbitrary arrests to hinder the ability of its people to freely exercise their universal rights".
'Massacre' The latest violence in Deraa on began early on Wednesday.
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Journalists were not allowed access to the area near al-Omari mosque - the main gathering place in central Deraa.
The rest of the city appeared to be deserted, except for a heavy security presence.
As we were leaving, we saw a long convoy of army vehicles and soldiers heading towards the city.
A crowd of government supporters was also going towards Deraa, shouting pro-regime slogans. There were hundreds of them in cars and on motorcycles.
Witnesses said security forces opened fire on protesters in the late afternoon. There were reports of casualties, which have been difficult to verify.
At the scene
The rest of the city appeared to be deserted, except for a heavy security presence.
As we were leaving, we saw a long convoy of army vehicles and soldiers heading towards the city.
A crowd of government supporters was also going towards Deraa, shouting pro-regime slogans. There were hundreds of them in cars and on motorcycles.
Witnesses said security forces opened fire on protesters in the late afternoon. There were reports of casualties, which have been difficult to verify.
Hundreds of people had gathered in the streets around the Omari mosque - a focal point for anti-government protests since Friday - to prevent security forces personnel deployed in the old quarter from storming it.
Witnesses said that shortly after midnight, the local power supply was cut and police began to fire live ammunition and tear gas at the protesters.One human rights activist told BBC Arabic that there was a "massacre" of "innocent, defenceless and peaceful citizens, who are staging peaceful sit-ins, and who don't even have stones to defend themselves with".
Syrian state TV said an armed gang was operating from the mosque and showed what it said were weapons and ammunition stored there. It also alleged that the gang had "kidnapped children and used them as human shields".
It said security forces had killed four members of the gang.
Later, witnesses told the Associated Press that the body of a 12-year-old girl had been found near the mosque, that a man was shot dead at a funeral of one of those killed outside the mosque, and that four bodies were seen near the offices of a security agency in the city. The reports could not be confirmed.
Then in the afternoon, hundreds of young people from the nearby villages of Inkhil, Jasim, Khirbet Ghazaleh and al-Harrah, gathered on the northern outskirts of Deraa and tried to march towards the city centre.
Wounded arrived at the city's hospitals after the clashes on Wednesday afternoon Another witness told the Reuters news agency that dozens of bodies had reportedly been taken to the Tafas hospital outside the city.
"Bodies fell in the streets. We do not know how many died," one person said.
A video posted on YouTube purportedly from Deraa showed people taking cover in a street amid the sound of heavy gunfire, carrying several badly wounded and dead men.
In the evening, parents were seen crying in the streets and loudspeakers from mosques around the city called on those whose relatives had died to go to clinics to collect the bodies, according to Reuters.
There were also snipers deployed on rooftops.
The BBC's Lina Sinjab says she was passed by about 20 military lorries full of armed soldiers heading towards Deraa on the road from the capital, Damascus.
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The BBC's Lina Sinjab is one of the few journalists to reach Deraa
It also accused BBC Arabic of broadcasting "provocative news".
Meanwhile, reports say the authorities have released six women protesters arrested last Wednesday after a peaceful protest outside the interior ministry in Damascus calling for the release of political prisoners.
Although the demonstrators have not demanded the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad, the unrest is the most serious challenge to his rule since he succeeded his father 11 years ago.
Our correspondent says the events are unprecedented in recent Syrian history, and the unrest is certainly making the government very worried.
Syria has been ruled under emergency laws since 1963.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12843905
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