Reports of shooting as thousands protest in Homs while Syrian government claims country is facing "armed insurrection".
Gunfire has been heard in the Syrian city of Homs where thousands of anti-government protesters have gathered in the main square, a day after activists said at least 25 people were killed there. An activist on the ground told Al Jazeera that security forces had opened fire on protesters calling for Bashar al-Assad to step down as Syria's president. Tear gas has also been used and there are reports of several people seriously wounded, according to Al Jazeera's correspondent in Damascus, Cal Perry. Homs had been shut down by the army with three rings of checkpoints surrounding the city, our correspondent added. The latest anti-government protests come as Syria's interior ministry on Monday night said the country was facing an "armed insurrection". The government blames armed gangs for the unrest and says several members of the security forces have been killed and wounded in days of violence. "Some of these groups have called for armed insurrection under the motto of Jihad to set up a Salafist state," the ministry said in a statement. "What they did is an ugly crime severely punished by law. Their objective is to spread terror across Syria" A protester who gave his name as Rami told Al Jazeera that thousands people were staging a sit-in in the centre of Homs and would "continue to protest until the regime is overthrown". Suhair Atassi, a prominent rights activist, said 10,000 people were at the square late on Monday night. Some tents were raised and protesters said they had renamed the Al-Saa (Clock) Square 'Tahrir Square', in reference to the focal point of the uprising in Egypt which led to the ousting of former president Hosni Mubarak. Click here for more of our special coverage Earlier in the day, thousands attended the funerals for protesters killed in Homs, shouting slogans against Assad, who succeeded his father as president in 2000, continuing an era of Baath Party rule stretching back to a 1963 coup. Witnesses said mourners chanted "From alleyway to alleyway, from house to house, we want to overthrow you, Bashar," and "Either freedom or death, the people want to topple this regime". Monday's protests were the largest to hit the strategically important city, Syria's third largest, since protests in the country began one month ago. "I'm 45 years old. It's the first time in my life I break the barrier of silence, the first time I feel freedom," a protester who gave his name as Abu Omar told Al Jazeera. "The regime does not wish us to enjoy freedom or dignity. For decades we've been ruled by an iron fist, by the force of weapon." Demonstrations were also reported in the southern city of Daraa, in the Barzeh district of the capital, Damascus, and in Ain al-Arab in the mainly Kurdish north. About 1,500 people gathered at the Shaghour bridge between Aleppo and Latakia in the morning. Homs violence A protester in Homs told Al Jazeera that protesters were killed after evening prayers on Sunday when a group of around 40 demonstrators gathered outside the Bab al-Sibaa mosque chanting "freedom". The protester, who gave his name as Abu Haider, said seven cars pulled up to the protesters and men in civilian clothes jumped out and opened fire on the crowd without warning. Pictures were posted online of people praying in
a square in Homs on Monday [Twitpic-Shantal7afana] "First we were calling for reforms, now we're calling for regime change," he said. "No one will accept the death of the martyrs." The nearby town of Talbiseh, where activists said five people were killed on Sunday, was sealed off by government forces on Monday. Walid al-Muallem, Syria's foreign minister, met foreign ambassadors earlier in the day and told them that reforms are on their way and that peaceful protest will be tolerated, but not destruction of government properties and other disruptive behaviour. The latest developments came two days after Assad said Syria's decades-long emergency laws would be lifted within a week and also promised a number of other reforms. Despite the apparent concessions, nationwide protests were held on Sunday, which was Syria's Independence Day, commemorating the departure of the last French soldier 65 years ago.
Auf tausende Demonstranten, die sich am heutigen Dienstagmorgen zu einer friedlichen Sitzblockade auf dem zentralen Platz in der syrischen Stadt Homs eingefunden hatten, eröffneten Sicherheitskräfte das Feuer. Das berichtet die arabische Nachrichtenagentur Al Jazeera. Die Sitzblockade sollte bis zum Rücktritt des autokratisch regierenden syrischen Staatspräsidenten Baschar al-Assad aufrecht erhalten werden. Genauere Informationen zu möglichen Verletzten oder Toten liegen nicht vor, da sich die Berichterstattung im Wesentlichen auf die Aussagen von Augenzeugen und im Exil lebenden Syrern stützt. 

Der heutigen Eskalation der Lage war gestern bereits eine Demonstration vorausgegangen, an der sich mehr als 20.000 Menschen zu einer Sitzblockade zusammengefunden hatten. Anlass war dabei die Beisetzung von 14 Demonstranten, die am Tag zuvor ebenfalls in Homs von Sicherheitskräften getötet worden waren. Die 14 getöteten Demonstranten hatten am Sonntag für Demokratie und Bürgerrechte demonstriert. Al Jazeera nennt hier 25 Todesopfer des Militäreinsatzes. Laut Al Jazeera war der Ort Homs in der Nacht von Sicherheitskräften abgeriegelt worden. Der Zugang zur Stadt wurde durch mehrere Sicherheitsringe gesichert. Um 2.30 Uhr in der Nacht war den Demonstranten laut einem Al-Jazeera-Korrespondenten von Sicherheitskräften ein Ultimatum gestellt worden, den Platz zu verlassen. 15 Minuten vor Ablauf des Ultimatums sei dann das Feuer auf die Demonstranten eröffnet worden.

Die Deutsche Presse-Agentur berichtet, das Militär habe die Sitzblockade auf dem Platz in Homs aufgelöst und die Kontrolle übernommen.

Das syrische Innenministerium spricht laut Al Jazeera im Zusammenhang mit den Protesten gegen die Staatsführung von einem „bewaffneten Aufstand“.