At least 10 people were killed Wednesday by Syrian security forces near Damascus, according to activists, dpa reported.
They said that the deaths included that of an 11-year-old boy during a crackdown in the town of Kankar near the Syrian capital.
The security forces and "Shabeeha", a group of outlaws close to the government, were continuing to shoot at the town's residents and make arbitrary arrests, said the Syrian Revolution, an activist group.
It added that hundreds of people were injured, some of them seriously. They were not allowed to receive medical treatment, it said.
The head of the Syrian Organization for Human Rights, Mahmoud Marae, told the broadcaster Al Jazeera that the security forces had stormed the town early Wednesday and rounded up 300 anti-government protesters.
Meanwhile, the opposition group the Union of the Syrian Revolution Coordination Committees said that hundreds of people had protested overnight against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in the commercial part of Damascus.
Ten people were killed Tuesday in anti-government demonstrations across Syria, according to activists.
They said that the Syrian army was beefing up its presence in the central city of Homs, which for weeks has been the focal point for mass protests against al-Assad's rule.
More than 1,400 people have been killed since pro-democracy protests began in Syria in mid-March.
These reports are hard to verify as the Syrian authorities have barred most foreign media and international human rights groups from the country.