Protesters in the southern Syrian town of Tafas torched an office of the ruling Baath party, a rights activist at the scene told AFP.

Thousands of people hit the streets in Tafas setting fire to the local Baath party headquarters and a police station, chanting slogans "hostile to the regime," the activist said by telephone.

The protesters had gathered for the burial of three demonstrators who had been shot dead by security forces in rallies on Friday, the activist said, requesting his name be withheld.

Tafas is some 18 kilometres (11 miles) north of the city of Daraa, a tribal area near the border with Jordan that has emerged as the symbol of Syria's protest movement.

In Daraa some 300 shirtless young men climbed on the rubble of a statue of late president Hafez Al-Assad, the father of the President Bashar Al-Assad, shouting anti-regime slogans, witnesses said.

Protesters had destroyed the statue in a rally the day before.

Demonstrations demanding major reforms began earlier this month in Syria, which has been ruled by the Baath party for close to 50 years. They have largely been centred in the country's south.

The protests have turned increasingly violent in recent days, with 13 people officially confirmed dead Friday, the Muslim day of prayer, while activists have put the death toll at 25.

Amnesty International has said that least 55 were killed during a week of unrest in and around Daraa.