NICOSIA: Syrian security forces on Friday shot dead nine civilians demonstrating in the Homs area in the centre of the country, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement.

“Nine civilians were killed in the Homs region: six in three districts of the city itself, a girl in Qusseir, a young man in Talbisseh and another in the village of Zaafaraniya,” the Britain-based group said.