Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets across Syria today demanding the removal of President Bashar al-Assad as fighting continued between loyalist forces and insurgents in the centre of the country, activists said.
Footage taken by residents showed crowds chanting "Syria wants freedom" in the Khalidiya neighbourhood of Homs. Activists reported attacks on army roadblocks in the nearby town of Talbiseh and continued fighting between defectors and loyalist troops in the town of Rastan further north.
Earlier today, Syria said seven of its soldiers and police were killed in an operation against "terrorists" in the central town of Rastan, where armed resistance against President Bashar al-Assad has emerged.
The state news agency reported the deaths in the first official comment on a three-day government offensive to recapture the area from army defectors.
"The units responsible have inflicted big losses on the armed terrorist groups," the agency said, quoting a military spokesman. "The confrontation resulted in the killing of seven personnel, among them two officers, and the injuring of 32, including seven officers, from the army and security police."
Syria's army and security forces have remained mostly loyal to Dr Assad during the six months of protests demanding his overthrow in which the United Nations says 2,700 people have been killed.
But army deserters, many of whom defected because they refused to shoot at demonstrators, have formed rebel units mostly in farming areas around Rastan, a town of 40,000 people which lies 180km north of Damascus.
One army defector operating in the province of Idlib, northwest of Rastan, said the defectors in the town were using guerrilla tactics against the heavily-armed loyalist forces.
"Rastan has been churning out army officers for decades, and there is a lot of experience among the defecting soldiers. Assad is mistaken if he thinks that he can wrap up the attack quickly," he said, adding that agricultural terrain made it difficult for the regular army to seal off the area.
The Rastan area is a recruiting ground for Sunni conscripts who provide most of manpower in the military, which is dominated by officers from Dr Assad's minority Alawite sect.
Residents say that at least 1,000 deserters and armed villagers have been fighting the loyalist forces which are backed up by tanks and helicopters.
Syria says more than 700 soldiers and police have been killed in the uprising which it blames on armed groups backed by foreign powers.
Yesterday, Pro-Assad supporters threw stones and tomatoes at US ambassador Robert Ford's convoy as he visited an opposition figure in Damascus.
Mr Ford and his party were uninjured, but several embassy vehicles were damaged and the ambassador had to lock himself in an office to await help from Syrian security.
Syria, which has been annoyed by Ford's meetings with opposition figures, accused Washington of inciting violence and meddling in its affairs. Washington demanded that Syria take steps to protect US diplomats.
"We condemn this unwarranted attack in the strongest possible terms. Ambassador Ford and his aides were conducting normal embassy business and this attempt to intimidate our diplomats through violence is wholly unjustified," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said.
"We immediately raised this incident with the Syrian government and we are demanding that they take every possible step to protect our diplomats according to their obligations under international law."
The Syrian government said that once it had been alerted to the confrontation, authorities "took all necessary procedures to protect the ambassador and his team and secure their return to their place of work".
Dr Assad's crackdown on the pro-democracy protests has damaged relations with the United States, which has imposed fresh sanctions and rallied world pressure on Syria.
Reuters