Government forces using tanks continued to shell the Damascus suburb of Douma and the central city of Homs on Friday, after one of the bloodiest days of the Syrian uprising in which more than 180 people were killed, a monitor said.

Seven people were killed in clashes and shelling, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that anti-regime protests were staged across the country.

Security forces dispersed a demonstration outside a mosque in the Mazzeh district of central Damascus, arresting four people, the Britain-based watchdog said.

"Regime troops surrounded a number of mosques in the capital to prevent protests after Friday prayers," it said.

Other demonstrations calling for the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad took place in Aleppo, Daraa, Deir Ezzor, Idlib, Homs and Latakia provinces.

On Thursday, the highest death toll was in Damascus with 46 people killed - 41 in Douma alone -- the Observatory said.

One person died in Deir Ezzor city in the east, where the Local Coordination Committees reported "violent clashes between regime forces and Free Syrian Army fighters."

Clashes also took place in the southern city of Daraa near a camp for displaced people, with two people killed by gunfire.

[SOURCE: AFP]