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Security forces have attempted to storm a mosque in the southern Syrian city of Daraa, reportedly killing at least five people.
Residents said heavy gunfire was heard near the Omari mosque in the early hours of Wednesday in the city, which has been the scene of anti-government protests since Friday.
"It seems that security forces may be trying to storm the complex. It is not clear because electricity has been cut off. Tear gas is also being used," one resident told the Reuters news agency.
Protesters calling for political freedoms and an end to corruption had said earlier that they were going to remain in the mosque until their demands were met.
Mohammed Al Abdallah, an exiled Syrian rights activist living in the US, said he had been communicating with people in Daraa who told him five people, including a doctor, had been killed inside the mosque.
"Security forces opened fire, they used bombs and live ammunition," he told Al Jazeera. "There are many injuries, including women and children."
He said electricity had been cut off before the attack and that security forces were preventing ambulances from entering the centre of Daraa, where the mosque is located.
Al Jazeera could not immediately confirm the reports and mobile phone network appeared to be disrupted in Daraa on Wednesday.
Those killed included Ali Ghassab al-Mahamid, a doctor from a prominent Daraa family who went to the mosque in the city's old quarter to help victims of the attack, according to residents.
Reports said protests were under way in Aleppo, Syria's second-biggest city, in support of protesters in Daraa.
Weekend crackdown
The violence came a day after the United Nations' human rights chief called for a probe into a weekend crackdown in Syria.
Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, called on Syrian authorities to carry out a transparent probe into the weekend crackdown and to halt the excessive use of force.
"The government should carry out an independent, transparent and effective investigation into the killings of the six protesters during the events of 18 and 20 March," Rupert Colville, a spokesman for Pillay, said on Tuesday.
"We are greatly concerned by the recent killings of protesters in Syria and reiterate the need to put an immediate halt to the excessive use of force against peaceful protesters, especially the use of live ammunition."
Colville said that the use of excessive force was a "clear violation of international law" and that perpetrators could be prosecuted.
"People have the legitimate right to express their grievances and demands to their government, and we urge the Syrian government to enter into a broad, meaningful dialogue with the protesters in an attempt to address those grievances," he said.
Emergency law
Demonstrations have been held in a number of Syrian cities in recent days despite the country's emergency law, which bans protests and has been in place since 1963.
Wednesday's incident brings to 11 the number of people reportedly killed by security forces since the start of the demonstrations on March 18, including an 11-year-old boy who died after inhaling tear gas on Monday.
A Syrian official told the AFP news agency that the governor of Daraa had been sacked following the killings.
The official, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, said Faisal Kalthoum was fired from his position on Tuesday.
Rula Amin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in the capital, Damascus, said that Kalthoum had not officially been sacked but had not been seen in public for the past three days.
PHOTO CAPTION
Protesters gather near the Omari Mosque in the southern old city of Deraa, March 22, 2011.
Al-Jazeera
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