Syrians plan ‘no kneeling’ day of demonstrations against killings

Pro-democracy protesters in Syria pledged defiance on Thursday as security forces killed at least 10 more people in raids and repression continued despite international condemnation.

Mass demonstrations are expected across the country on Friday – the “day of not kneeling”. A Facebook group, the Syrian Revolution 2011, said in a defiant message: “We only kneel before God.”

Seven died after tanks entered Qusayr, near the border with Lebanon, and three others in Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria – both incidents reported by the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Tanks and troop carriers were also seen moving into the town of Saraqeb in northwestern Idlib province bordering Turkey, it said. Activists on Twitter described a rally in Idlib that called for the overthrow of the Assad regime.

There was no sign of a letup in a security crackdown that started on the eve of Ramadan, 11 days ago. The opposition Local Co-ordination Committees said they had counted 257 dead since then.

The US has estimated that 2,000 people have been killed since the uprising began in March. Syrian state media sought to convey a different impression, showing pictures of troops leaving Hama after “restoring order” in the third largest city.

On Wednesday, security forces reportedly shot dead 18 people in the Baba Amro area of nearby Homs. A video posted on YouTube, an important means of communication for the Syrian opposition, showed four local men lying dead or badly injured on a street. Others showed a man said to have been run over by a tank and two men with horrific injuries. Residents reported all communications with the city had been severed. In Qusayr, security forces and Shabiha militiamen were described as looting and destroying shops while mosques were closed and calls for prayer banned.

The latest attacks came a week after the UN security council called for an immediate halt to the Syrian violence. The council was told in a briefing on Wednesday that there had been no decrease in the deaths of protesters. Diplomats from western countries warned that the council would have to consider “further action” if events did not improve. US President Barack Obama emphasised his deep concern about the Syrian government’s use of violence against civilians in a phone call with Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan, the White House said.

The White House said Obama and Erdogan also agreed that the demands of the Syrian people for a transition to democracy must be met, and that the pair agreed to consult closely in the coming days as the situation in Syria develops. The US is poised to demand that President Bashar al-Assad leave power explicitly and unconditionally.

US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, and UN envoy Susan Rice have said that Assad has lost his legitimacy to rule, but Washington has so far resisted issuing a direct call for him to step down.

US and British diplomats were looking at detailed reports of Wednesday’s talks in Damascus between Assad and the Turkish foreign minister, Ahmet Davotoglu, which lasted for nearly seven hours and covered many “substantive points” including the demand that Syrian security forces be withdrawn from cities.

Ignoring international outrage, the Syrian leader has pledged a relentless battle against “terrorist groups” he says are fomenting a popular uprising. On Wednesday, Assad reportedly admitted that his security forces had made “some mistakes” in battling protests, during talks with the deputy foreign ministers of Brazil, India and South Africa, which have all opposed tougher UN action against Syria.