A Syrian opposition figure told The Associated Press by
telephone that thousands of protesters overwhelmed security officers and torched
the courthouse and police station in the northern town of Maaret Al-Numan, and
the army responded with tank shells.
Syria's state-run television appeared to confirm at least
part of the report, saying gunmen opened fire on troops in Maaret Al-Numan,
causing casualties.
The Local Coordination Committees, a group that documents
anti-government protests in Syria, said at least 32 people died in protests and
army operations, half of them in the northwestern province of Idlib. The group
said many of the casualties were in Maaret Al-Numan.
Forty kilometers to the west in the same province, Syrian
troops backed by dozens of tanks massed outside the virtually deserted town of
Jisr Al-Shughour and shelled nearby villages. Late Friday, Syrian television
said troops reached the entrances of the town and detained members of
"armed groups."
According to activists, many of the troops belong to the
army's elite 4th Division, which is commanded by President Bashar Assad's
younger brother, Maher. The use of the loyalist forces could reflect the
regime's concern about whether regular military units would remain loyal if
called upon to crush the uprising in the north.
Other protests in Syria occurred in neighborhoods in the
capital, Damascus, and the major city of Aleppo, which are vital to Assad's
regime. But the demonstrations in those cities have been relatively limited in
scope compared to other restive areas.
Syrians who escaped into Turkey depicted a week of revolt
and mayhem in Jisr Al-Shughour, saying police turned their guns on each other
and soldiers shed their uniforms rather than fire on protesters. Syrian
television said the operation aimed to restore security in the town, where
authorities say 120 officers and security personnel were killed by gunmen last
week.
Nearly 4,000 Syrians had crossed into Turkey by Friday,
nearly all of them in the past two days, according to Turkish media.
A Syrian refugee at a camp in Turkey accused Syrian forces
of attacking civilians.
"Bashar Assad is killing his own people in order to
stay in power," Abdulkerim Haji Yousef told AP Television News, standing
behind a fence at one of three camps set up for Syrians.
The Turkish daily Hurriyet quoted Foreign Ministry officials
as saying that among scenarios top government officials discussed at a meeting
Friday was the creation of a buffer zone if hundreds of thousands want to seek
refuge in Turkey. However, this is not seen as a near-term prospect.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has used
his close ties to Assad in an attempt to press the Syrian leader to make
concessions to the protesters, described the crackdown as "savagery."
His government has said it will not shut its border to Syrians fleeing
violence, and the Turkish military was increasing security along the border to
better manage the refugee influx.
"Unfortunately, it is clear that things are not going
in the right direction," Anatolia news agency cited Turkish President
Abdullah Gul as saying. "We are following things with sadness."
Tanks were on the outer edges of Jisr Al-Shughour on Friday,
preparing to enter, an AP reporter accompanying Syrian troops on a
government-organized trip said. He said the army announced the start of
operations at around 5 a.m. Friday. Witnesses contacted by telephone said most
residents had abandoned the town of up to 45,000.
Citing contacts inside Syria, Rami Abdul-Rahman, the
London-based head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said more than
10,000 soldiers were involved.
The invitation to an AP reporter to accompany troops to Jisr
Al-Shughour appeared to reflect a Syrian government effort to counter criticism
and prove the existence of armed gangs. "Now we feel safe," said
Walida Sheikho, a 50-year-old woman in the village of Foro, near Jisr
Al-Shughour.
