At least five people were killed Friday, including three law-enforcement members, in separate attacks by armed groups in several Syrian cities, according to the official SANA news agency.

Armed groups with snipers fired randomly in the Damascus suburb of Douma, the Sakhour neighborhood in northern province of Aleppo and Areha neighborhood in the northern province of Idlib, killing at least five people, including three law-enforcement members, Sana said.

It said law-enforcement forces fired back at the armed groups, killed four of them and arrested others.

Limited gatherings were seen on Friday in the northern province of Idlib, central province of Homs and the eastern town of al- Boukmal near the border with Iraq and were dispersed within a short time, Sana said.

Syria has been gripped by five months of anti-government protests, during which the protesters' demands have snowballed from modest reforms to the downfall of the leadership who has ruled the country for about four decades.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has responded to the country's unprecedented anti-government protests by offering some concessions, including lifting the state of emergency in place since 1963, releasing hundreds of political detainees and reshuffling the government.

Syria blamed the unrest on "armed extremist groups" which aimed at toppling al-Assad and establishing an Islamic emirate instead.