Syrian government forces tightened their grip on restive central and northern areas Sunday, as the crackdown on pro-democracy activists killed at least 20 people, according to activists, dpa reported.
In the northern province of Idlib, nine people were killed as army forces encircled all villages near the Turkish border.
Troops set up barriers and launched arbitrary arrest raids to prevent many families from fleeing the area, the Local Coordination Committees (LCC) said online.
The crackdown intensified after two judicial officials were killed in the province earlier in the day. Idlib Prosecutor General Nidal Ghazal and Judge Mohammed Zyada were shot dead when an "armed terrorist group" shot at the car transporting them to work, according to the official SANA news agency.
Nine others were killed in the central flashpoint province of Homs, where restive areas have been bombarded by government forces for two weeks.
Two others were killed in the eastern Deir al-Zour area and the southern Daraa province, the LCC added.
In the capital Damascus, a funeral for protester Samer al-Khatib was held amid tight security in al-Mezza area. Al-Khatib was killed on Saturday during a funeral procession protesters held for those killed by government crackdown.
Anti-government protesters have usually turned funeral procession into demonstrations calling for the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad.
Security forces fired shots in the air to disperse women who gathered for a protest against the arrest of a young man in Damascus, the LCC added.
Authorities have repeatedly blamed "terrorist groups", allegedly financed by Arab and Western countries, for the violence in the country that has entered an eleventh month.
State media last week reported that a director of a military hospital was killed by unknown gunmen outside his home in the capital Damascus.
More than 7,400 people have been killed since anti-Assad protests began in mid-March, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Egypt on Sunday recalled its ambassador to Syria, as pressure mounts on the military-led government to expel the envoy over Damascus' continuing crackdown on dissent.
The decision was made by the Foreign Minister Mohamed Amr following a meeting with the Egypt's ambassador to Damascus who is currently in Cairo, a spokesman for the ministry, Amr Rushdi, said.
The ambassador would remain in Cairo until further notice," Rushdi said in a statement.
Hundreds of people took part in a demonstration outside the Syrian embassy in Cairo on Friday to protest the 11 months of bloodshed in Syria. They called on Egypt to expel Syrian ambassador to Egypt and representative in the Arab League Youssef al-Ahmed.
The deteriorating situation in Syria has prompted several European states to recall their envoys from Syria earlier this month, while the Gulf states expelled Syrian ambassadors.
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