Government troops shot dead at least two unarmed civilians in the city of Ankahal on Friday as President Bashar Assad's regime continued its violent crackdown on pro-democracy protests, the Al Arbiya TV channel said.
An activist group told Al Arabiya at least two people were killed after troops bombarded Ankhal with artillery and heavy machinegun fire.
The Local Coordination Committees, which help organize and document Syria's protests, said troops also shot at residents fleeing the bombardment of Rastan.
A fresh wave of demonstrations and rallies swept across Syria on Friday, the country's official day of prayer, after opposition groups called for protests against casualties among children during the recent weeks of violence.
Opposition activists say at least 25 young people have died in the recent protests against President Bashar Assad's regime.
Syria has remained completely offline since Friday morning, the country's state telephone and internet service said.
Activists have organized the protests through the Facebook and Twitter networking sites. Syria has several times severed its connections to the internet in the most restless territories in a bid to suppress the protests, but this is the first time internet services in Syria have been closed down nationwide.
Pro-democracy protests have taken place in Syria for the last two and a half months. The first protests demanding Assad's resignation and more democratic freedoms took place in the city of Deraa in mid-March, and the opposition campaign soon spread to other Syrian regions.
Over 1,000 people have been killed since the beginning of the unrest in the country, Syrian rights activists claim.
MOSCOW, June 3 (RIA Novosti)
