"There are definitely more than 100 dead and the city will need a week to bury its martyrs," said human rights activist Ayman al-Asswad in Daraa, reached by telephone from Nicosia.
Asswad said security forces had "used real bullets" when firing against demonstrators yesterday in Daraa, 120 kilometres south of Damascus, and a second activist put the figure as high as "more than 150" killed.
Syrian authorities today told reporters 10 people died in the security forces crackdown on Daraa, a town of 75,000 people that has become a hub for anti-regime protests since March 18