(CNN) -- Security forces fired on protesters in a show of force after Friday prayers in Daraa, leaving at least 22 unarmed civilians dead, a doctor told CNN.
But the government had a different account, saying 19 security force members were killed in the violence.
A tense calm settled on the restive southern city as evening approached, but it seethed over the bloodshed and conflict.
The doctor said more than 40 people were injured, and of the dead, five had been returned to their families for burial. Dozens of people complained of breathing problems from tear gas.
Wissam Tarif, a human rights activist outside Damascus who had received reports about the unfolding violence, said security forces also were arresting protesters.
Daraa was one of several cities where protesters took to the streets Friday, and Amnesty International said unarmed people calling "for greater freedoms were reportedly attacked by security forces firing live ammunition."
"The alarming reports coming from Syria today show that the authorities have not altered their violent methods for dealing with dissent," said Philip Luther, deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Amnesty International.
"The Syrian government needs to take urgent action to rein in its security forces and prevent the loss of further lives," he said.
Security forces kept doctors from getting to the city's main hospital to tend to the wounded, witnesses said. Gunfire could be heard in the background as the witness spoke to CNN.
According to state TV's report, 19 members of the Syrian security forces and 75 were wounded after "armed groups" opened fire on citizens and security forces in Daraa.
The gunmen also fired on an ambulance while it was transporting the injured to a hospital, killing the driver of the vehicle, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported. It said that state television broadcast images of the gunmen firing into crowds in Daraa.
CNN could not independently confirm the accounts.
The violence began after thousands of people poured out of mosques around the city and headed for the main square in Daraa, according to the doctor tending to the wounded.
The protesters were chanting for greater political freedom and the release of political prisoners, according to a human rights activist in Daraa who agreed to be identified only by his first name, Mohamad.
Security forces surrounding the square fired on protesters before they reached the square, the doctor said.
Protests and violence were also reported Friday in Nawa Province, Al Hirak, Inkhel, Jasem City, Al Sanameen and other towns, according to Mohamad.
Anti-government protests began in mid-March, with unrest first centering in the Daraa region and spreading to other parts of the country, such as western coastal city of Latakia, the Damascus suburb of Douma, and Qamishli in the northeastern Kurdish region.
Scores of people have died, and President Bashar al-Assad's regime has been criticized for the lethal force used against anti-government protesters.
Amnesty International said on Friday that at least 171 people are believed to have been killed during the last three weeks of protest, counting at least six in Daraa and two in Homs, in the west, on Friday.
"Since the first protesters died (in Daraa) on 18 March, Amnesty International has recorded the names, via information received from sources including human rights activists and lawyers, of 171 people killed," it said. "The majority appear to have been killed by live ammunition fired by the security forces."
Syria state TV said armed gunmen injured six people in Homs.
But the government had a different account, saying 19 security force members were killed in the violence.
A tense calm settled on the restive southern city as evening approached, but it seethed over the bloodshed and conflict.
The doctor said more than 40 people were injured, and of the dead, five had been returned to their families for burial. Dozens of people complained of breathing problems from tear gas.
Wissam Tarif, a human rights activist outside Damascus who had received reports about the unfolding violence, said security forces also were arresting protesters.
Daraa was one of several cities where protesters took to the streets Friday, and Amnesty International said unarmed people calling "for greater freedoms were reportedly attacked by security forces firing live ammunition."
"The alarming reports coming from Syria today show that the authorities have not altered their violent methods for dealing with dissent," said Philip Luther, deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Amnesty International.
"The Syrian government needs to take urgent action to rein in its security forces and prevent the loss of further lives," he said.
Security forces kept doctors from getting to the city's main hospital to tend to the wounded, witnesses said. Gunfire could be heard in the background as the witness spoke to CNN.
According to state TV's report, 19 members of the Syrian security forces and 75 were wounded after "armed groups" opened fire on citizens and security forces in Daraa.
The gunmen also fired on an ambulance while it was transporting the injured to a hospital, killing the driver of the vehicle, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported. It said that state television broadcast images of the gunmen firing into crowds in Daraa.
CNN could not independently confirm the accounts.
The violence began after thousands of people poured out of mosques around the city and headed for the main square in Daraa, according to the doctor tending to the wounded.
The protesters were chanting for greater political freedom and the release of political prisoners, according to a human rights activist in Daraa who agreed to be identified only by his first name, Mohamad.
Security forces surrounding the square fired on protesters before they reached the square, the doctor said.
Protests and violence were also reported Friday in Nawa Province, Al Hirak, Inkhel, Jasem City, Al Sanameen and other towns, according to Mohamad.
Anti-government protests began in mid-March, with unrest first centering in the Daraa region and spreading to other parts of the country, such as western coastal city of Latakia, the Damascus suburb of Douma, and Qamishli in the northeastern Kurdish region.
Scores of people have died, and President Bashar al-Assad's regime has been criticized for the lethal force used against anti-government protesters.
Amnesty International said on Friday that at least 171 people are believed to have been killed during the last three weeks of protest, counting at least six in Daraa and two in Homs, in the west, on Friday.
"Since the first protesters died (in Daraa) on 18 March, Amnesty International has recorded the names, via information received from sources including human rights activists and lawyers, of 171 people killed," it said. "The majority appear to have been killed by live ammunition fired by the security forces."
Syria state TV said armed gunmen injured six people in Homs.
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