Residents in the Syrian city of Hama blocked streets with burning tyres today to keep out busloads of security forces, and dozens of families fled to a nearby town, an activist and a resident said.
The city, scene of a 1982 massacre which came to symbolise the ruthless rule of the late President Hafez al-Assad, has seen some of the biggest protests in 14 weeks of demonstrations against his son Bashar.
Rami Abdelrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two buses full of Syrian intelligence forces and police tried to enter Hama from the north and four buses from the east.
A Hama resident said up to 14 buses had entered the northern quarters of the city and reported that security forces were firing in residential areas.
The reports could not be immediately confirmed. Syria has barred most independent media from the country, making it difficult to verify accounts from activists or authorities.
"[Security forces] tried to enter Hama, but residents burnt tyres in the roads to prevent them from entering," Abdelrahman said, adding that 100 families have fled from Hama to the neighbouring city of Salamiyah, about 50 km (30 miles) away.
The private al-Watan newspaper said today a parliamentary election due in August would be postponed to allow parliament to pass new laws on the media and political parties, part of a package of reforms which Mr Assad has pledged in response to the unrest.
The president raised the possibility of delaying the election in a speech last month in which he set out plans for a national dialogue with the opposition. Opposition figures say they will not talk while waves of killings and arrests continue.
Tanks deployed around the outskirts of Hama this week after tens of thousands of people rallied in a central square on Friday demanding Assad's downfall, the culmination of a month of escalating protests in the city.
Protesters were exploiting an apparent security vacuum in the city after Mr Assad's forces pulled back from Hama following the killing of at least 60 protesters on June 3rd.
Mr Assad sacked the Hama provincial governor on Saturday. Security forces swept in on Monday and activists say at least 26 people have been killed in a wave of arrests and shootings, but the tanks have stayed outside the city.
The official Syrian news agency said yesterday one policeman was killed in a clash with armed groups who shot at security forces and threw petrol and nail bombs. It did not mention civilian deaths but said some "armed men" were injured.
"There are still a lot of military vehicles and tanks in front of the city," said Ammar Qurabi, Cairo-based head of the Syrian National Human Rights Organisation.
"The people inside Hama are still scared of a sudden step [by Syrian forces]. Water and electricity are still cut."
Mr Assad's father, Hafez al-Assad, who ruled Syria for 30 years until his death in 2000, sent troops into Hama in 1982 to crush an Islamist-led uprising in the city.
That attack killed many thousands, possibly up to 30,000.
The local coordinating committees which track the Syrian protest movement said that protests took place overnight "in support for the city of Hama" in the southern city of Deraa, where the demonstrations first broke out on March 18th, and in two Damascus suburbs.
Abdelrahman of the Syrian Observatory also said 300 people had been arrested in the last two days in Jabal al-Zawya, a region 35 km (22 miles) south of Turkey that has seen spreading protests against Mr Assad's rule.
The area, consisting of around 40 villages, has been a focal point of Syrian troop activity since forces shot dead four villagers last week.
"People are too scared to go outside. Shops have closed and farmers won't even enter their fields to pick apples," Abdelrahman told Reuters by telephone from Britain.
"There has been no bread or milk for two days," he added.
Mr Assad has responded to the protests with a mixture of repression and concessions, promising a political dialogue with the opposition. Preliminary talks on the dialogue are due to beheld on Sunday.
But opposition figures refuse to sit down and talk while the killings and arrests continue, and diplomats say events in Hama will be a litmus test for whether Mr Assad chooses to focus on apolitical or a military solution to the unrest.
Activists are already calling for the weekly Friday protest to be held under the banner of "No Dialogue". If the protests lead to more bloodshed tomorrow, that would make opposition participation in any meeting on Sunday even more unlikely.
Reuters