At least 20 anti-government protesters were left dead in fighting in several Syrian cities on Friday, CNN said Saturday citing a Syrian activist group.
The clashes occurred in the cities of Al-Kisweh, Daraa, Homs, Al-Qusayr and Hama. Local Coordination Committees of Syria said five youths, including three 17-year-olds, were among those killed.
Foreign journalists are banned from entering the country, which makes it difficult to verify the figures.
However, the country's government granted access to CNN journalists recently.
Syrian human rights organizations have estimated that some 1,300 people have been killed and more than 10,000 arrested in Syria since protests demanding the end of President Bashar al-Assad's authoritarian rule broke out in the country in mid-March.
