Troops, Backed by Tanks, Move to Quell Dissent in Syrian Towns

The Syrian government widened its crackdown on Tuesday to include more cities and towns. Activists in Syria said army troops, backed by tanks, entered Hama, in central Syria, and several southern villages near Dara’a, the impoverished and besieged town in a region known as the Houran that has become a symbol of the uprising.

“The big question now is what’s next,” said Wissam Tarif, executive director of Insan, a Syrian human rights group. “They are about to announce victory, but what will happen when they pull the troops out?”

At least seven people were killed in demonstrations on Monday night — three in Maadamiyah, a Damascus suburb, and four in Deir al Zour, a town in northeastern Syria, he said.

“The people are very angry and they swear they will be protesting again,” a resident who lives near Othman bin Affan mosque in Deir al Zour said by telephone. The protesters were killed in front of the mosque, which security forces closed two weeks ago to worshipers to prevent them from organizing demonstrations.

Heavy gunfire was also heard Tuesday in at least four southern villages, including Inkhil, Dael, Jassem, Sanamein and Nawa. Activists reported casualties though the numbers were difficult to ascertain, given the difficulties in communication and the Syrian government’s suppression of independent news gathering. Phones have been cut in most besieged towns and cities.

The military operations came as activists called for daily protests across the country on the Facebook page of Syrian Revolution 2011, an Internet-based opposition group.

“The Tuesday of solidarity with prisoners of conscience in the jails of the Syrian criminal regime,” the page said. “The demonstration will continue every day.”

In the capital, Damascus, security forces reinforced their presence, setting up more checkpoints and sending out more patrols, residents there reported. The measures came after 250 people, including university students and professionals, staged a small demonstration on Monday night in Arnoua Square in the heart of the city. The protesters, holding banners that read, “Stop the siege on our cities,” and, “A national dialogue is the solution,” were quickly dispersed by plainclothes police officers. Thirty-two of them were detained, Mr. Tarif said.

Protesters in Homs said they are planning a demonstration, even as the city reels under heavy security measures.

“We are changing strategies,” said Abu Haydar, a resident in Homs reached by phone. “We don’t want to reveal the location of our gathering. We want to surprise the security forces.” At least two neighborhoods have been completely isolated, with phones, electricity and water cut and no one allowed to enter or leave, Mr. Haydar said.

The army was also conducting operations in cities along the Mediterranean coast, including Baniyas and Jabla, both under siege for several days. In Baniyas, 63 people have been arrested since Monday night, bringing the total number arrested since Saturday to 419, Mr. Tarif said.

Meanwhile, Dorothy Parvaz, a reporter who works for Al Jazeera English, the Qatar-based satellite channel, left Syria aboard a Ukrainian Airways flight headed to Iran on May 1, Bouthaina Shaaban, an adviser to Mr. Assad, said on Monday. She said Ms. Parvaz had entered the country on April 29 on her Iranian passport.

Al Jazeera has reported that she was detained by Syrian authorities and, in an e-mailed statement Tuesday, it said it had nothing new to add.