10 Murdered in Anti-Govt Protests in Syria's Deraa

Thousands of Syrians emerged from prayers to protest in the country's north and south last Friday, in the first rallies since President Bashar al-Assad dashed hopes for greater freedoms.

At least 10 people were killed in the southern Syrian city of Deraa amidst protests against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

While international media report that the fire on the protesters in Deraa was opened by regime security forces, the Syrian state news agency SANA blamed the shooting of live bullets on "vandals".

Syrian state TV has aired footage of masked gunmen who can be seen shooting blaming the violence on armed groups shooting at random at both security officers and protesters in order to generate outrage against the regime.

The civil unrest in Syria against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad has been gaining momentum in the past three weeks, not unlike similar scenarios in other Arab countries.