Syria violence kills 5, including 2 children

Five people, including two children, were killed in violence across Syria today as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad fired on several protests, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Five people, including two children, were killed in violence across Syria on Friday as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad fired on several protests, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

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The two children were killed in an explosion near a cultural centre in Kfartakharim in the northwestern Idlib region, the Britain-based Observatory said adding that residents were greatly angered by the incident.

The activist group said at dawn two civilians were shot dead on farms in the flashpoint town of Rankus, near Damascus.

In the southern Daraa region, where the 10-month-old uprising against the Assad regime began, a soldier was killed and five others injured in clashes in the town of Jassem between government forces and fighters from the deserter Free Syrian Army.

In Idlib region, the watchdog said, massive protests were held marking the notorious 1982 massacre in the city of Hama. In the coastal town of Latakia protests began despite a huge presence of security forces who fired gunshots to disperse the crowds.

Protesters also gathered in Yabrod, in Damascus province, after Friday prayers, the activists said.