An armoured Syrian force surrounded a town north of Homs today after the defection of tens of soldiers from the area, activists and residents said, in the latest operation to counter dissent within the military during a five month uprising.
At least 40 light tanks and armoured vehicles, and 20 buses full of troops and military intelligence, deployed at 5:30 a.m. at the highway entrance of Rastan, 20km north of the city of Homs and began firing heavy machine guns at the town.
Rastan is traditionally a reservoir of recruits for the mostly Sunni rank-and-file army dominated by officers from Syria's Alawite minority sect, the same sect as president Bashar al-Assad.
Troops backed by tanks also entered the town of Qara on the same highway south of the city of Homs, which has been scene of daily protests, killing one resident and arresting tens of people in house to house raids, activists said.
"These armoured assaults on outlying areas are designed to crush protests and to contain any defections in the army," said a Syrian political analyst in Damascus, who did not want to be named because of fear for his safety.
"The regime's political control on the army had seemed unbreakable, but that is no longer the case, after soldiers saw mosques being stormed, worshippers attacked and minarets shelled," he said.
The apparent fall of Col Gadafy has coincided with increased international pressure on Mr Assad for his repression of protests, with European Union sanctions on the oil sector that could come as early as this week.
President Abdullah Gul of Turkey, once a strong supporter of Mr Assad, told Turkish state-run news agency Anatolian in an interview the situation had reached a point where changes would be too little too late.
"We are really very sad. Incidents are said to be 'finished' and then another 17 people are dead. How many will it be today? Clearly we have reached a point where anything would be too little too late. We have lost our confidence," Mr Gul said.
The Arab League said it was concerned "over the dangerous developments on the Syrian arena that had caused thousands of casualties" and "stresses the importance of ending bloodshed and to resort to reason before it is too late". It also agreed to send its secretary-general to Syria to push for reforms.
At an Arab League meeting in Cairo, Syrian representative Youssef Ahmad said "the response of the Syrian leadership to the just popular demands has helped stop the popular movement in many cities and their decline in other areas".
He said the authorities were pursuing reforms but they will not "allow terrorism and extremism to target peaceful coexistence in Syria and the independence of its patriotic and national decisions".
Mr Assad's forces killed at least two protesters overnight in the town of Albu Kamal on the border with Iraq in stepped up assaults on pro-democracy demonstrations, local activists said.
Agencies