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Credit: Reuters/Handout By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN | Fri Jul 29, 2011 10:38am EDT AMMAN (Reuters) - Fighting flared between Syrian military intelligence agents and residents in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor on Friday after the killing of five protesters, witnesses said, in what appeared to be a serious armed challenge to President Bashar al-Assad. Syrians in their thousands took to the streets nationwide for the 17th consecutive Friday to demand an end to Assad's 11-year rule, activists said, by telephone, defying an intensifying military crackdown on an uprising for political freedoms. Security forces shot dead a civilian when they fired at demonstrators in the southern village of Museifra, rights campaigners said. They added that demonstrators came under fire in the nearby city of Deraa, cradle of the uprising, in the coastal cities of Banias and Latakia, and in the Damascus suburb of Hajar al-Assad, mostly inhabited by refugees from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The official Syrian news agency said a member of the security police was killed in the town of Albu Kamal on the border with Iraq, and that saboteurs bombed an export oil pipeline near the central city of Homs on Friday, The attack caused an oil leak, it said. Homs hosts one of Syria's two oil refineries and has been hit by big street protests. Assad has deployed tanks in Homs. Syrian authorities have expelled most independent journalists since the uprising began, making it difficult to verify reports of clashes, and do not usually comment on reports of killings. "Our main goal is the downfall of the regime," a preacher told worshippers at the central Orontes Square in the city of Hama, scene of a massacre by the military in the 1980s. Popular unrest against four decades of repressive rule by the Assad family, now in its fifth month, is taking on sectarian overtones with protesters from the Sunni Muslim majority pitted against minority Alawites dominating the power elite. Military intelligence, in charge of securing loyalty to Assad among the army's mostly Sunni rank and file, has been spearheading a crackdown in Syria's Sunni tribal east, a strategic oil-producing region near the border with Iraq. MANY WEAPONS IN PRIVATE HANDS Many inhabitants of the region have weapons because the government earlier armed eastern tribes, which have close links with Iraq, as a counterweight to Syria's Kurdish population, much of it in regions adjacent to Deir al-Zor province. "Fighting is concentrating in the northwest of Deir al-Zor. It has been going on nonstop since 2 a.m. (2300 GMT)," a resident, who declined to be named, told Reuters by telephone. "Tanks entered the city overnight, but there is talk of entire army units defecting. Electricity and communications have been cut," he said with the crackling of heavy machinegun fire audible in the background. Residents earlier reported tank shelling in Deir al-Zor. There have been individual instances of Syrians using weapons during the unrest, for example defending their homes during assaults on restive cities by security forces. But the fighting reported in Deir al-Zor appeared to represent an armed response by a significant number of people to Assad's iron-fisted clampdown on public dissent. On Sunday, Assad replaced the civilian governor of Deir al-Zor province with the head of the country's main prison, two days after the biggest pro-democracy demonstrations in the province so far. Last week the army surrounded the town of Albu Kamal on the easternmost edge of Deir al-Zor after 30 soldiers defected following the killing of four protesters, residents said. Deir al-Zor is the center of Syria's daily oil output of 380,000 barrels but is among the poorest of the country's 13 provinces, afflicted by drought and economic mismanagement. The Syrian leadership blames "armed terrorist groups" for most killings during the revolt, which began with demands for political liberalization and now seeks the toppling of Assad, who succeeded his late father, Hafez al-Assad, in 2000. The global activist group Avaaz said in a new report that Syrian security forces have killed 1,634 people while at least 2,918 people had disappeared in Assad's violent crackdown. Another 26,000 people have been arrested, many of whom were beaten and tortured, and 12,617 remain in detention, it said. The Syrian government has said more than 500 soldiers and security personnel have been killed. Human rights campaigners say soldiers who have refused to fire on civilians have been shot dead. They add that army conscripts and rank and file members have been defecting in increasing numbers. Assad has relied on ultra-loyalist security units, which are mostly Alawite and commanded by his dreaded brother Maher, to quell the uprising. Overnight on Friday, witnesses said they saw over 3,000 republican guards being transported around Damascus ahead of Friday prayers in the biggest such deployment against possible protests in the capital since the uprising started. In Madaya near the capital, residents told Reuters two civilians were killed in a security sweep on Friday. Madaya has witnessed large anti-Assad disturbances despite the stationing of armored vehicles in the area. (Additional reporting by Suleiman al-Khalidi, Amman newsroom; editing by Mark Heinrich) World Syria Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. Social Stream (What's this?) 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