( CNN ) -- Syrian authorities have arrested at least 117 activists , intellectuals and anti-government supporters since early Monday , a human rights group said . `` The wave of arrests across the country includes journalist Faiz Sarah ... along with many more , '' Wissam Tarif , executive director of the human rights group Insan , told CNN . `` We were able to confirm only 117 arrested but we expect the number to be a lot higher , '' he added . The group said authorities raided homes and arrested opponents in the capital , Damascus , and also in the cities of Latakia , Homs , Aleppo , Jubah , Tartus and Banias . The coastal city of Banias remained sealed off Monday after violence broke a day earlier . At least four people were killed and 17 others injured in clashes between security forces and pro-democracy protesters , according to eyewitnesses . Some people ventured out Monday to bury some of the dead , with more burials expected Tuesday . Phone lines were spotty and are believed to be monitored , eyewitnesses told CNN . Electricity returned in certain parts of the city but remained unreliable . Other parts of the country also were tense as military and security forces gathered around government buildings and university campuses in anticipation of protests . In the capital , for the first time faculty members joined hundreds of students demonstrated Monday at Damascus University 's applied science and law colleges in the city 's central Baramka area , Tarif said . `` They were peaceful , then pro-regime forces closed off the campus and white busses came and detained at least seven people , some were beaten . One student from the city of Jassem , in Daraa province , was severely beaten inside the campus because the forces believed he organized the protest . '' Tarif said . A video on YouTube.com claiming to show the protest showed students chanting slogans in support of Banias and Daraa , where the anti-government protests started in the country last month . The Syrian government blames foreigners and instigators for infiltrating peaceful demonstrations and feeding violent confrontations . The country 's official news agency , SANA , published on Monday the names of six police officers who SANA said were killed and 166 others who were injured `` when militants fired at them over the last few days in Daraa , Reef , Damascus , Homs and Latakia . ''
An official of a human rights group describes a `` wave '' of arrests across Syria . At least 117 anti-government activists and intellectuals were arrested , the official says . `` We were able to confirm only 117 ... we expect the number to be a lot higher , '' he adds .