Army ‘surrounds’ Damascus suburb

Homs has been a focus of anti-government unrest

Syrian security forces have expanded their crackdown on anti-government protests, entering several key cities.

The state news agency said authorities were pursuing “armed terrorist groups” in Deraa, Homs and Baniyas.

In Homs, Syria’s third city, there were reports of gunfire and shelling as troops backed by tanks pushed into residential areas.

A 12-year-old boy is reported to have been killed there. State media say six soldiers died in the clashes.

Foreign journalists are banned from entering Syria, so reports are difficult to independently verify.

‘Faced with guns’

In Homs – a centre of the recent protests against President Bashar al-Assad – water, electricity and nearly all forms of communication were cut as reinforcements moved into the city on Sunday.

Tanks and troops charged into the Bab Sebaa, Bab Amro and Tal al-Sour districts.

One Homs resident, who wished to remain anonymous, told the BBC: “We cannot stay for a long time faced with these guns – somebody from your end, from other nations, from Turkey, should [do] something.”

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the areas were under “total siege”, and that hundreds had been arrested. The numbers of dead and injured was unknown, it added.

The Sana state news agency reported that 10 civilian workers travelling to Homs from Lebanon had been killed in an ambush by an armed gang.

Some 15 people were shot dead in Homs on Friday as they staged demonstrations after weekly prayers.

The authorities say 11 soldiers and police were also killed, blaming “terrorist groups” for the violence.

Police operations are also continuing in Baniyas and Deraa.

A witness quoted by Reuters news agency said that security forces had killed at least two unarmed demonstrators on Sunday when they fired on a night rally in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor.

State television showed what appeared to be the blood-soaked interior of a white transit van which had a bullet-ridden windshield.

In Deraa, the southern city where the unrest began in March, residents also remain cut off from the rest of the country.

Scores of people have been killed in Deraa during a 10-day security operation.

Meanwhile, the authorities have filed charges against prominent opposition politician Riad Seif.

Mr Seif, who suffers from cancer, was arrested on Friday accused of staging a protest without a permit.

Across Syria, demonstrators have been calling for greater political rights and personal freedoms. Some are calling for the downfall of the regime.

The unrest, which began in March, poses the most serious challenge to Mr Assad since he succeeded his father, Hafez, in 2000.

On Friday the US said the violence against protesters was “deplorable” and pledged a “strong international response” if Damascus did not end its crackdown.

More than 500 people are thought to have been killed since the start of the protests.

CLICKABLE

Qamishli

A mobile phone snapshot, reportedly taken in Qamishli on 29 April, shows protesters carrying banners written in Arabic and Kurdish demanding democracy.

Damascus

This footage, which the BBC cannot verify, seems to show demonstrators in Midan, central Damascus, on Friday afternoon. A source in Damascus says he could see a lot of security and police officers in the main areas of Damascus after protests began after Friday prayers finished.

Talbisah

This unverified video seems to show a peaceful protest in Talbisah. Moments into the footage, tanks fire on unarmed civilians. Wyre Davis reports.

Deraa

A soldier walks past men in civilian clothes lying on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs in this still photo taken from an amateur video.

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