10 Killed as Syrian Army Storms New Towns

Syrian forces killed at least 10 people on Thursday while the army stormed another two towns in pursuit of anti-regime protesters, defying Western calls for action after a "chilling" U.N. Security Council briefing.

The killings occurred soon after columns of tanks entered the town of Qusayr in the central province of Homs early on Thursday, sending residents fleeing into the fields, rights activist there said.

"The security forces opened fire on residents who tried to flee to the al-Basatin district, killing at least five," one activist told Agence France Presse, adding later that the death toll rose to seven.

Another activist said 16 people had been wounded, adding that the army "has closed entrances to the town," while security forces were conducting arrests, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

Three other people were shot dead by security forces in the eastern oil hub of Deir Ezzor's al-Matar neighborhood and several houses were torched, the Britain-based rights group said.

Tanks, troop carriers and buses transporting security force members also sped into the town of Saraqeb in the northwestern Idlib province bordering Turkey soon after dawn Thursday, the Observatory reported.

"Shooting was heard soon afterwards," it said, adding that security were "raiding homes and making arrests, rounding up more than 100 people, including 35 children."

"Army troops are smashing the doors of shops owned by activists in search of them, and they have cut off electricity in the town," where anti-regime protests have been held nightly, said the Observatory.

On Wednesday, security forces shot dead 18 people in the Baba Amro neighborhood of the city of Homs with more than 100 wounded "some in critical condition," the group said.

It said residents were fleeing for safety while heavy machine-gun fire rattled Baba Amro well into Thursday morning.

The group also reported that security forces arrested 27 activists Wednesday in the town of Salamiyeh and nearby villages, in the province of Deir Ezzor, including prominent dissident Hassan Zahra.

Zahra, 67, has been detained several times in the past weeks accused of organizing demonstrations, the Observatory said, adding that he suffers from asthma, high blood pressure and emphysema.

The latest assaults come after U.N. Assistant Secretary General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco briefed the Security Council Wednesday about events in Syria in the week since the council called for an "immediate" halt to the violence.

Taranco, who spoke behind closed doors, was quoted as saying there had been no letup in the deaths of protesters while U.N. officials had met Syrian diplomats to try to get accurate information.

His briefing was "depressing and chilling," Britain's deputy U.N. ambassador Philip Parham said.

Western envoys said the Security Council would have to consider "further action" if events did not improve, and it pressed for a new report next week.

Ignoring the international outrage, President Bashar al-Assad pledged this week a relentless battle against "terrorist groups" Damascus says are fomenting a popular uprising across Syria.

Rights group say more than 2,000 people have been killed in the crackdown on the protest movement, which first erupted in mid-March with calls for reform before demanding the fall of the regime over its bloody repression.

The Observatory said on its website that a total of 2,150 people have been confirmed dead since the protests began.

That includes 1,744 civilians, but "does not account for the martyrs who fell in Hama since August 3."

The remaining 406 were security forces, and the official SANA news agency said funerals were held Thursday in Damascus, Homs and Deir Ezzor for three Syrian forces killed by "armed terrorists groups."

The mounting toll of civilian deaths has infuriated Western powers, prompting the European Union and the United States to impose sanctions on Syrian officials as well as individuals and business they say are involved in the crackdown.

Arab heavyweight Saudi Arabia last week recalled its ambassador from Syria, and two other members of the energy-rich Gulf Cooperation Council, Kuwait and Bahrain, have followed suit.

Egypt, the Arab League, and the top Sunni Muslim authority, Al-Azhar, have also called for an immediate end to the violence and late Wednesday Morocco added its voice to those pleading for an end to the bloodshed.

The bloodshed has not dented the determination of protest organizers.

Facebook group The Syrian Revolution 2011, a driving force behind the protests, said in a message Thursday posted on the Internet: "We only kneel before God."

It also urged Syrians to pursue anti-regime rallies throughout the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan which started August 1, saying "every day in Ramadan is a Friday."

Friday -- the weekly day of rest when key Muslim prayers are held -- has become a focal point of anti-regime protests in Syria, with hundreds of thousands pouring on to the streets each week to demonstrate.

On Wednesday, Assad admitted his security forces had made "some mistakes" in battling protests, during talks in Damascus with the deputy foreign ministers of Brazil, India and South Africa, India's U.N. mission reported.