At least 10 mourners died and dozens more were wounded in Syria Saturday when gunfire erupted at a funeral for protesters slain the day before, witnesses said.
The 40,000 mourners were returning from burying their dead in Homs when attacked, al-Jazeera reported, citing witnesses interviewed by phone with gunfire in the background.
"Today we've lost about 10 people killed in Homs," lawyer and human rights activist Lina Mansour told the Qatar news channel al-Jazeera, which said it could not verify the casualty toll because of restrictions imposed by the government. "Tens of people injured as well."
Syrian human-rights group Insan said the toll of protesters killed across the country Friday had surpassed 47.
Most of the dead were in Homs and the western province of Idlib, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The New York Times reported the shooting was by Syrian security forces.
The newspaper said it was told by one witness the gunfire began as mourners were chanting "Rest in peace, martyr, we will continue on the same path," "The people want to topple the regime" and "Freedom, freedom."
"A lot of people were injured. There was blood everywhere," the unidentified witness told the Times. " They were firing at us directly."
Mansour said friends and family were in the dark about those detained by the Syrian government.
"Up to the moment there are hundreds of people who went missing and there are people who were detained and they were really tortured ...," she said. "People are detained haphazardly, and we don't know who is alive and who is not."
Activists posted video footage of demonstrations in many cities, including one where President Bashar Assad was hanged in effigy.
"It is no longer a question of whether Assad should step down, but rather, of how and when," said activist Rami Nakhla. "Assad had the chance to make reforms and stay in power. By killing more than 1,000 peaceful demonstrators since the beginning of the Syrian protest, this is no longer a reasonable option."
In the capital, Damascus, rare protests broke out Friday in parts of the old city, along with the suburbs that have been in revolt for weeks.
Thousands also rallied in the Kurdish city of Qamishli in the northeast and the Druze stronghold of Suweida in the south, where marchers chanted, "One, one, one, the people of Syria are one."