NICOSIA: Two children were among at least five people killed by Syrian security forces on Friday in the restive city of Homs and on the outskirts of Damascus, activists said.
The opposition, meanwhile, warned of the risks of a "massacre" in Homs which had been surrounded by government forces.
"A 10-year-old child was killed by arbitrary gunfire coming from a security checkpoint in Bab al-Sebaa neighborhood," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement received in Nicosia.
And "arbitrary shooting by security forces killed a 12-year-old child in Karam neighborhood," said the Britain-based watchdog, adding a third person was killed in the same city.
Security forces also killed two civilians on the outskirts of the capital, it said.
The deaths were reported as Friday weekly Muslim prayers were followed by protests against the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad and in support of a "dignity strike" called by pro-democracy activists.
The Observatory reported protests across the central provinces of Hama and Homs, the eastern oil-rich province of Deir Ezzor, the northwestern province of Idlib, near the border with Turkey, and Daraa to the south.
The Local Coordination Committees has called on citizens to strike from Sunday with sit-ins at work and the closure of shops and universities, before the shutdown of transportation networks and a general public sector strike.
The opposition Syrian National Council warned earlier of a looming "massacre" as it reported thousands of regime forces and militiamen encircling the protest hub of Homs for an expected final assault to crush dissent.
Witnesses on the ground have reported a buildup of troops and pro-regime "Shabiha" militiamen in armored vehicles who have set up more than 60 checkpoints, said the SNC.
