Syrian army lays siege to northwestern town

Syrian troops shelled rebellious areas in central and northern Syria on Saturday in the latest push to quash the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, but faced fierce resistance from army defectors, activists said. Much of the day's fighting focused on the northeastern town of Saraqeb, which activists said regime troops and tanks entered from the north amid heavy shelling. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said fighting reached the central market district where army defectors damaged a tank and three armoured personnel carriers. Late Saturday, it said 2 rebel fighters and 9 government troops had been killed in the clashes. "Large numbers of residents are fleeing the town," said Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Observatory, which has a network of activists inside Syria. "People have been leaving the town for some time but after today's attack the process intensified." Government troops also shelled parts of the central city of Homs and the nearby town of al-Qusair. Activist videos posted online Saturday showed explosions in residential neighbourhoods sending up balls of flame and huge plumes of black smoke.

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