In a further blow to President Bashar Assad, more than 200 members have quit Syria's ruling Baath party in the southern province at the center of the uprising to protest the Assad regime's brutal crackdown on opponents, a human rights activist said. A witness and human rights groups said there have been clashes between Syrian Army units over the crackdown in Deraa. That claim could not be verified.

A witness said six tanks rolled into Latakia on Wednesday night and security forces fired on pro-democracy demonstrators, wounding four.

In Deraa, troops were using heavy machine guns in an operation Thursday, said resident Abdullah Abazeid. He added that snipers killed more people and that 43 have died since the military descended on Deraa Monday.

He said water and power have been cut. "The situation is worsening. We have neither doctors nor medical supplies, not even baby milk. The electricity is always cut and we haven't any more water."

In neighboring Lebanon, customs officials and witnesses said hundreds of people fled the violence in the Syrian town of Talkalakh. Residents near the border heard gunfire on Wednesday night.

Syria's state-run news agency said a "terrorist armed group" attacked a police position near Talkalakh, killing two and wounding five.

The Organization of the Islamic Conference said its Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu spoke with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem by telephone and "expressed his profound sorrow at the large number of deaths and injuries."