Damascus, Syria (CNN) -- Fighting across several Syrian cities Friday left a total of 20 anti-government protesters dead, a Syrian activist group said Saturday.
The Local Coordination Committees of Syria -- an organization pushing for regime change in the country -- said five youths, including three 17-year-olds, were among those killed. The group said clashes occurred in the cities of Al-Kisweh, Daraa, Homs, Al-Qusayr and Hama.
The state-run SANA news organization put Friday's death toll during the protests at seven civilians and law-enforcement personnel.
CNN could not immediately verify the reported death tolls.
Until Thursday, CNN has been barred from officially entering Syria and its reporting about events inside the country had been limited largely to what the network was able to piece together based on official government reports and accounts and videos posted on the Internet.
Recently, the government granted access to CNN journalists, who arrived Thursday in Syria, where they were assigned government "minders" to accompany them on video shoots.
The minders said they had not received permission to take the journalists to the areas where protests were occurring. Instead, they took the journalists to Damascus' historic old city, where their appearance on the streets prompted a crowd of a few dozen Syrians to erupt into pro-government chants. Posters and pictures of President Bashar al-Assad quickly materialized.
But as more violence erupted in Syria, the European Council condemned the nation Friday, saying the "regime is calling its legitimacy into question" by opting for a "path of repression instead of fulfilling its own promises on broad reforms."
The European Council -- comprising the heads of state of European Union member states -- deplored the "ongoing repression and unacceptable and shocking violence the Syrian regime continues to apply against its own citizens."
The unrest has prompted waves of Syrians to flee to Turkey. The governor's office in Turkey's southern Hatay province said Friday that the number of Syrian refugees in the country has reached 11,739.
The European Council expressed grave concern about reports of Syrian military activity near the Turkish border at Khirbet al-Jouz and urged "maximum restraint."
The statements came after the Council of the European Union voted Thursday to expand sanctions against Syria by freezing the assets of seven people and four businesses with connections to the regime.
The detail was published in the European Union's Official Journal on Friday, and British Foreign Secretary William Hague hailed the measures.
"These measures are carefully targeted and focused on those responsible for violent repression," Hague said. "Contrary to the Syrian authorities' claims, the economic problems Syria is facing are a direct and predictable consequence of the Syrian authorities' decision to choose repression over reform."
Among those sanctioned were three commanders in Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps accused of helping the "regime suppress protests" and "providing equipment and support" to the government, according to the European Union Official Journal. One of the three is Brig. Cmdr. Mohammad Ali Jafari, the corps' general commander.
"I welcome the inclusion of three Iranian individuals on the list," Hague said. "The Iranian government's provision of equipment and technical advice to help suppress peaceful protests is absolutely unacceptable. Iran's actions are in stark contrast to the will of the Syrian people. They also highlight again Iran's blatant hypocrisy, claiming publicly to support freedom in the Arab world, while privately assisting in violent repression."
Two of those sanctioned were first cousins of the president. They are Zoulhima Chaliche, head of presidential security, and Riyad Chaliche, director of the military housing establishment. Two others were business associates of Maher al-Assad, the president's brother and commander of the army's 4th Division and "strongman of the Republican Guard."
Anti-government protests have raged in Syria for more than three months, with demonstrations gaining momentum amid a tough government crackdown.
More than 1,600 have died since the unrest in Syria began, Rami Abdelrahman, head of the London-based Syria Observatory for Human Rights, said Saturday. He said 1,337 protesters and 341 soldiers and security forces have been killed, and about 10,000 people have been jailed.
Nadim Houri of Human Rights Watch placed the death toll at 1,350.CNN's Arwa Damon, Hamdi Alkhshali, Eve Bower, Azadeh Ansari, Nada Husseini, Carol Jordan, Per Nyberg, Tracy Doueiry and Joe Sterling contributed to this report.
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