DAMASCUS (BNO NEWS) -- Syrian security forces on Friday and Saturday fired on protesters in Daraa and the surrounding villages of Sanmein and Tafas, killing at least 26 people and injuring others, Human Rights Watch reported on Monday.

Human Rights Watch said at least 61 people have been killed in Daraa governorate since March 18, citing figures from Syrian human rights activists. Meanwhile on Saturday, clashes between security forces and protesters in the coastal city of Latakia killed at least 12 others.

Human Rights Watch has called on the Syrian government to hold to account those responsible for any unlawful shooting on demonstrators and urged concerned governments to back their condemnations of Syria's violent crackdown with concrete measures, such as ending all transfer of military or security assistance, as long as the abuses continue.

"Syria's authorities promise reform on TV but meet demonstrators with bullets in the streets," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "The government should understand that these demonstrations won't end until it stops shooting at protesters and begins to change its repressive laws and practices."

In Daraa on Friday, tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered for a funeral procession for protesters killed the previous day. The protest had been peaceful in the morning, but security forces fired live ammunition at protesters after they tried to destroy a statue of former president Hafez al-Assad in the square facing the governor's residence, two witnesses told Human Rights Watch. Video footage posted by anonymous sources on YouTube showed the protesters attempting to pull down the statue as well as a billboard photo of President Bashar al-Asad in a neighboring square. The sound of gunfire could be heard in the background.

A Daraa resident told Human Rights Watch on Saturday that protests on Friday had first been peaceful. When people in the crowd received information that security forces had shot and killed demonstrators in the nearby village of Sanamein, who were on their way to join the funeral procession in Daraa, they vented their anger by trying to destroy a statue of former president al-Asad, the father of the current president. "The information about the killing of protesters who were coming to join us angered the crowd. And some people tried to destroy the statue of President Hafez al-Asad. At that point, security forces opened fire, and I ran away," a witness told Human Rights Watch.

Another Daraa resident told Human Rights Watch that 14 people had died in the subsequent shootings in Daraa, but Human Rights Watch was able to obtain the names of only two dead protesters. They were identified by the organization as Muhammad Ayshat and Tarek Abu Aysh.

In Sanamein, a resident told Human Rights Watch what had happened in his village. "We were heading to Daraa to join the funeral when we reached security forces who were blocking our way. When we refused to stop, they started shooting at us," he said, adding that 16 people were killed.

Also on Saturday, anti-government protesters set fire to the headquarters of the ruling Baath Party and a police station in Tafas, another village near Daraa, during the funeral of a demonstrator who had been killed on Friday, a Syrian activist told Human Rights Watch. The activist told Human Rights Watch that security forces had killed two protesters in an effort to disperse the crowd.

"Attacks on a statue do not justify shooting protesters dead," Whitson said. "It is time for President al-Asad to show leadership by reigning in his security forces, investigating those responsible for unlawful attacks on protesters, and holding them accountable in a court of law."

The confrontations between protesters and security forces in Latakia on Saturday led the Syrian army to deploy in the city at night. Human Rights Watch spoke to two residents in Latakia, but both were too afraid to provide any details of the events, the organization said. Anti-government demonstrators in Latakia who spoke to television outlets accused the security forces of opening fire on them, while officials and pro-government protesters accused the anti-government protesters of having guns and shooting at police.

The government has arrested scores of people since large-scale demonstrations began on March 16. Some have been released while others remain in detention and their whereabouts are unknown. Human Rights Watch urged authorities to immediately disclose the names, whereabouts, and charges against anyone who may still be in custody in connection with recent events.

The violence against peaceful anti-government demonstrators in Syria has been condemned worldwide, including by the United States and the United Nations.

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