SIX PEOPLE WERE killed after Syrian security forces opened fire on protesters today.

Local reports say that five people were killed in the central city of Homs and one was killed in Hama.

Thousands joined demonstrations across the country calling for an end to President Bashar Assad’s regime, witnesses and activists said.

Syrian authorities detained Riad Seif, a leading opposition figure and former lawmaker who has been an outspoken critic of the regime during the seven-week uprising, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

“We were chanting, peaceful, peaceful, and we didn’t even throw a stone at the security forces,” said a witness in Homs. “But they waited for us to reach the main square and then they opened fire on us.”

The protesters turned out Friday despite a bloody crackdown on the uprising. More than 565 civilians and 100 soldiers have been killed since the revolt began in March, according to rights groups.

Rallies were held in major areas including the capital, Damascus, and its suburbs, the central city of Homs, Banias on the coast and Qamishli in the northeast.

Witnesses also reported some of the tightest security seen since the protests began in mid-March. In the Damascus suburb of Douma, security forces cordoned off the area to prevent anyone from entering or leaving.

A witness near Douma said he saw a train carrying about 15 army tanks heading north Thursday evening toward the central province of Homs, another site of recent violence.

They were among several demonstrations and marches planned for Friday, the main day of protests in the Arab world, for what activists were calling a “Day of Defiance.”

More than 565 civilians and 100 soldiers have been reported killed since an anti-regime uprising, inspired by revolts in Tunisia and Egypt, began in March.

In the city of Daraa, residents said troops were still in the streets, causing some would-be demonstrators to be wary of taking part in a planned protest Friday.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said a medical team reached Daraa on Thursday with trucks carrying humanitarian goods and medical supplies.

Despite the mounting death toll, protesters are undeterred and are demanding nothing less than the end of Assad’s regime.

- AP