Syrian forces kill 11 in swoop on northern towns (Reuters)

AMMAN/HAMA, Syria (Reuters) – Syrian forces killed 11 people in a raid on a northern town Thursday, activists said, pursuing a military campaign to crush protests against President Bashar al-Assad despite new U.S. sanctions and regional calls to end the bloodshed.

They said the killings occurred when troops backed by tanks swept into Qusair, near the Lebanon border, after overnight protests calling for Assad’s removal. One person was also killed in the coastal city of Latakia.

Around 14 tanks and armored vehicles also swept into Saraqeb, a town on Syria’s main north-south highway that has seen daily demonstrations, and 100 people were arrested by the security forces, residents said by telephone.

Syria’s northern towns have been a particular target in recent days of the crackdown on demonstrations calling for Assad’s overthrow, inspired by popular revolts against rulers where in the Arab world.

Officials escorted a group of Turkish reporters around the city of Hama Thursday after a week-long crackdown. However, Syria has barred most independent journalists since the uprising against 41 years of Assad family rule flared five months ago, making it difficult to verify accounts from both sides of events on the ground.

At least 1,700 civilians have been killed in the unrest, rights groups say, and a series of military assaults on cities and towns since the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan 10 days ago has sharpened international condemnation.

The United States ambassador to Damascus warned Syria on Thursday of more U.S. sanctions if violence does not stop, a day after Washington imposed sanctions on a Syrian state bank and on Syria’s biggest mobile telephone company.

Regional powers Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt have all added pressure on Assad to stop the violence, although no country has proposed the kind of military intervention being carried out by NATO forces against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Syria says 500 soldiers and police have died in the bloodshed, which it blames on armed gangs and terrorists.

HAMA STREETS EMPTY, SCARRED

In Hama, main streets were empty Thursday, windows shuttered and most shops closed after the week-long military assault to crush protests in the city which became a symbol of defiance against Assad.

A day after authorities announced the army had pulled out, following the crackdown in which activists said scores of people were killed, the government appeared in full control.

No tanks could be seen but armed, uniformed men stood on rooftops, soldiers manned a series of checkpoints into the city, and the governor’s building in the central square was flanked by two military vehicles topped by machine guns.

Several residents, their comments translated to the visiting Turkish journalists by Syrian officials, said the army moved in after the city was taken over by groups who had blocked roads and burned state buildings.

But one th, his face masked and only his eyes visible, had a different message. “ see us, we have no weapons, but they are attacking us with tanks and planes,” he said. “And I tell President Assad that, even though it will be difficult, we will get out of power.”

Syrian human rights group Sawasiah said at least 30 people were arrested in dawn raids in the northern countryside near Aleppo, while similar arrest took place in the northern Idlib province, Damascus suburbs and the southern Hauran Plain.

Another activist group, the Local Coordinating Committees, said nine detainees had died from torture in detention over the last 10 days in Damascus, Homs, Deraa and Damascus suburbs.

European members of the U.N. Security Council Wednesday warned Syria that it could face tougher U.N. action if Assad continued the onslaught against protesters, while Russia urged Damascus to implement promised reforms as soon as possible.

But Russia and China, both with veto powers in the Council and backed by India, South Africa and Brazil, have vehemently opposed the idea of slapping U.N. sanctions on Damascus, which Western diplomats say would be the logical next step.

Envoys of Britain, France, Germany and Portugal spoke to reporters after a closed-door session of the 15-nation council convened to assess Syria’s compliance with last week’s call by the world body for “an immediate end to all violence.”

They said the Syrian leadership has ignored that demand.

Despite the worsening bloodshed, there appears little prospect that Western states will put teeth on the sanctions on Assad by targeting Syria’s vital oil industry because of vested commercial interests abroad against doing so.

But Assad is suffering deepening international isolation, with several fellow Arab states recalling their ambassadors this week and pointed calls by Saudi Arabia and Turkey, two regional heavyweights, on him to curb his forces now and launch reforms.

At Wednesday’s Council meeting, U.N. deputy political affairs chief Oscar Fernandez-Taranco said that nearly 2,000 Syrian civilians had been killed since March — 188 since July 31 and 87 on August 8 alone, diplomats at the meeting said.

U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice told reporters that “it would be much, much better for the people of Syria, and Syria would be better off, without Assad.” She was echoing comments made last week by White House spokesman Jay Carney.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Moscow had made clear to Damascus that Assad should follow through on reform promises as swiftly as possible.

“They need to have serious reforms as soon as possible, even though we do realize that it takes time, especially in a dramatic situation like this,” he said. Asked if he thought the new U.S. sanctions on Syria were helpful, Churkin said: “No.”

Syrian envoy Bashar Ja’afari blasted the Europeans, accusing them of misleading reporters about the situation.

“They tried to manipulate the truth and to hide important facts and elements related to the so-called situation in Syria,” he said, adding that the Europeans had deliberately ignored Assad’s promises of reform and national dialogue.

(Additional reporting by Louis Charbonneau at United Nations, Tabassum Zakaria in Washington, Writing by Dominic Evans; Editing by David Stamp)

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