At least 45 civilians were killed in a tank assault by Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's forces to occupy the centre of Hama, activists said today, in a sharp escalation of a military campaign aimed at ending an uprising against his rule.
Reacting to intensifying assaults on Syrian cities and towns, the UN Security Council overcame deep divisions and condemned Dr Assad's bloody crackdown on civilian protesters.
It was the first substantive action by the UN on Syria's five-month-old uprising for political freedoms.
An activist who managed to leave the besieged city told Reuters that 40 people were killed by heavy machinegun fire and shelling by tanks in al-Hader district north of the Orontes river last night and early today.
The activist, who gave his name as Thaer, said five more people were killed as they were trying to leave Hama by car on the al-Dhahirya highway.
Syrian authorities have expelled most independent media, making it difficult to verify witness accounts and official statements.
Residents earlier said tanks had advanced into central Hama yesterday after heavily shelling the city and occupied the main Orontes square, the site of some of the largest protests against Dr Assad, who succeeded his father, the late president Hafez al-Assad, in 2000.
Snipers spread onto rooftops and into the nearby citadel. They said shelling concentrated on al-Hader district, large parts of which were razed in 1982 when forces loyal to Hafez al-Assada overran Hama to crush Islamist insurgents, killing many thousands of people.
Human rights campaigners say more than 90 people, not counting the latest toll, have been killed in Hama since Dr Assad, from Syria's minority Alawite sect, launched a military assault on Sunday to crush dissent against his autocratic rule.
The assaults triggered international condemnation and calls from US senators for sanctions on Syria's energy sector.
Last week tanks moved into the eastern provincial capital of Deir al-Zor and the town of Albu Kamal on the border with Iraq's Sunni heartland. Both town have also witnessed large pro-democracy protests.
The official Syrian news agency said "armed terrorist groups" had abducted three oil-well guards in Deir al-Zor yesterday, and killed one policeman.
Authorities say the army had entered Hama to confront "terrorists" who were intimidating inhabitants. State television broadcast footage of armed men who it said had attacked security forces and government buildings in Hama.
Reuters