Death Toll in Syrian Regime Crackdown on Protests Rises to 21

The death toll from Syrian security force action against anti-government protests on Friday has risen to 21, activists said as a European Union oil embargo went into effect on Saturday.

"The number of civilians killed over the past 24 hours has reached 21 -- nine in the Damascus area, nine in the (central) province of Homs and three in Deir Ezzor" in the east, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"Nine people were shot dead by the security forces as they dispersed demonstrations in the towns of Aarbine, Kfar Batna, Douma and Hammuriyyeh in the Damascus area," the London-based rights group said.

Of the nine people killed in Homs province, one was a woman and another a former pro-government militiaman who was killed by his former comrades, the rights group added.

Tens of thousands of people defied the security forces to take part in Friday's demonstrations, held under the slogan "Death rather than humiliation."

"We are ready to die as martyrs by the millions," wrote activists on their Facebook page "Syrian revolution". Another group leading the protests, the Local Coordination Committees (LCC), said protests would continue "every day until the fall of the regime."

Rallies are held almost daily, but mass protests are called every Friday, the Muslim day of prayer and rest.

A EU oil embargo against Syria went into effect on Saturday a day after its adoption by the 27-nation bloc to punish the government for its brutal suppression of the protest movement which erupted on March 15.