Syrian authorities closed off entire areas in several tense cities on Friday, May 13, setting up checkpoints and roadblocks ahead of planned anti-government protests after prayers at the country's mosques, AP reports.

President Bashar Assad has gone to extreme measures to try to crush the protest movement that has engulfed several provinces across the country. Authorities have sent tanks and snipers to major flashpoint cities and arrested thousands of people in the past two weeks.

More than 775 people have been killed and thousands detained since the uprising against Assad.