According to the rights activists and officials more than 50 Syrians were killed as tens of thousands of protesters rallied for a ‘day of rage’ after noon prayers on Friday, defying warnings of a harsh crackdown. Witnesses said that protests against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime were held in most major towns, in pro-democracy demonstrations after the weekly prayers.

Based in London, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said at least 32 civilians wee killed in the protest epicenter of Daraa, adding it had a list of names of those confirmed killed.

Military officials said that four soldiers were also killed and two captured by ‘armed terrorists’ in Daraa, though a rights activist in the southern town said the men had been killed defending protesters. In the town of Homs, around 15 civilians were killed in the industrial city, the Observatory said. The Syrian interior ministry said that three members of the security forces were also killed in Homs.

The official SANA news agency quoted a ministry source as saying that three police officers were shot dead today after being targeted by extremist terrorist groups when they performed their duties. The Observatory added that one person was also killed in the Mediterranean port city of Latakia. In the neighboring country of Lebanon, customs officials and witnesses said that hundreds of people fled the violence in the Syrian town of Talkalakh.

The UN human Rights Council, in Geneva, endorsed a US call for an investigative mission on the bloodshed as it voted in favor of a resolution and condemning the crackdown on protests. It said that the resolution of the council unequivocally condemns the use of lethal violence against peaceful protesters by the Syrian authorities, and urges the Syrian government to immediately put an end to all human rights violations.

Meanwhile, the United States blocked the assets of President Assad’s powerful brother, Maher, several other officials and of Syria’s intelligence services.

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