More than 100,000 mourners turned up yesterday for the funerals of protesters killed by Syrian security forces in Hama, a rights group said, warning that the country was nearing an “abyss”.

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights head Rami Abdel Rahman said more than 100,000 people took part in the funerals of at least 53 people killed during anti-regime protests last Friday across Syria, all but five of them in Hama.

Fresh clashes erupted in Jisrash Shughur in the northwestern province of Idlib yesterday as security forces tried to disperse a column of protesters marching through the town, he said, without reporting more casualties.

The London-based Observatory said security forces last Friday sprayed gunfire on a crowd of more than 50,000 gathered for the central Syrian city of Hama’s biggest rally since the uprising broke out in mid-March.

In Homs, a city 40 km from Hama, two people were killed last Friday and another two in nearby Rastan, said Abdel Rahman. One person was also killed as security forces opened fire in Idlib province.

Residents of Hama said security forces stayed away from the funerals. One resident said internet access was still cut off in the city yesterday, as users elsewhere in Syria said internet services had been restored after a cut of more than 24 hours in several regions.

Syria’s official press, in its account of Friday’s violence, said 20 people were killed, including police, security agents and civilians “by shots fired by armed groups”.

In Hama, three “saboteurs” were killed in clashes with police as they set ablaze a government building, state television said, adding that 80 security force members were injured.