Clashes Erupt at Protests in Syria
AL JAZEERA ENGLISH: Reports of violence as residents of three towns fill the streets in demonstrations against the government.

Protests have erupted in at least three towns across Syria in the most serious case of unrest in decades for a country that has been ruled with strict emergency laws for almost half a century.

Witnesses reported that at least three people had been killed by security forces in the southern city of Deraa on Friday, where anti-government demonstrators had gathered after midday prayers.

The three were reportedly among several thousand people in the city who chanted "God, Syria, Freedom" while accusing president Bashar al-Assad's family of corruption.

Witnesses said security forces were reinforced with troops who landed in the city's football stadium in helicopters.

"The confrontations are ongoing. They are heavy," a witness told the Reuters news agency.

Hundreds of protesters were reported to have been injured. » | Source: Al Jazeera and agencies | Friday, March 18, 2011

Violence Flares at Syrian Protest
After online calls for a "day of dignity", protesters demanding an end to alleged government corruption took to the streets of cities across Syria on Friday. But they were met with a violent crackdown orchestrated by state security forces. In one video subsequently posted online, water cannon are used on crowds of protesters. Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith reports on the "Facebook youth" who appear to be keeping one step ahead of the authorities