Syrian forces shot dead at least 20 protestors as tens of thousands demanded the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad, chanting 'we will kneel only to God.'
Defiant protest marches unfolded across the country despite a military crackdown that has intensified since the beginning of the fasting month of Ramadan, triggering sanctions and condemnation abroad.
These included protests in the cities of Hama and Deir al-Zor, both of which have been stormed in tank offensives launched by Assad at the beginning of the Muslim holy month.
Military Intelligence agents fired live ammunition at protesters coming out of several mosques in Deir al-Zor, killing three people, a doctor said, adding that a 66-year old man was in a coma after a bullet hit him in the neck and went through his lung.
The Local Coordination Committees, a grassroots activists' group, said among the deaths across Syria were six in the Damascus suburbs, including a pregnant woman and a 16 year old boy, and two civilians in the northern province of Idlib on the Turkish border.
Syrian state television said two members of the security forces were killed by gunmen in Douma, just outside Damascus.
Syrian authorities have barred most independent media, making it difficult to verify events on the ground in the unrest, among a series of popular revolts against repressive power elites across the Arab world this year.
US urges boycott on Syrian oil and gas
Meanwhile, the US has called on countries to stop buying Syrian oil and gas as it seeks to build pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to end a brutal crackdown against protesters who oppose his rule.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, has said 'stay tuned' when asked what progress the US had made in persuading Europe, India or China to curtail their energy ties with Damascus.
Speaking at a news conference with Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store, Clinton stopped short of explicitly calling for Assad's departure.
