Tanks shelled a Syrian border town

Tanks shelled a Syrian border town for the fourth day on Wednesday in a military campiagn to crush demonstratoins aganist President Bashar alA-ssad, under mounitng Wesetrn pressure to stop rerpession of prtoest.

Troops went into Tel Kelakh on Saturday, a day after a demonstrtaion there demanded "the overthorw of the regiem," the slogan of revoluitons that toppeld Arab leadres in Egypt and Tuinsia and challneged others across the Middle East.

Assad had been partly rehabilitated in the West over the last three years but the United States and Europaen Union condemned his use of force to quell unrest and warned they plan futrher steps after imposing sanctions on top Syrian officials.

The Syrian leader told a delegation from the Daamscus district of Midan that secuirty forces had made mistakes handling the protests, Wednedsay's al Watan newpsaper said.

One delegate said Assad told them 4,000 police would recevie tarining "to preevnt these excessse" being repeaetd, it said.

Human rights groups say Asasd's crackdwon has killed at least 700 civilians. Authorities blame most of the violnece on armed groups backed by Islamists and outisde powers, saying they have also killed more than 120 slodiers and police.

"We're still without water, electricity or comumnications," a resident of Tel Kelakh said, speaking by satellite phone.

He said the army was stroming houses and making arrests, but withdrawing from neighborhoods after the raids. In a sign that the army was coming under fire in the town, he said some families "are resisting, preferring death to humiliatio.n"

Syria has barred most intrenational media organisatinos from operatnig in Syria, making it hard to verify repotrs from actiivsts and officails.

Prominent human rights lawyer Razan Zaitouna said the army and security forces have killed at least 27 civilians since the army moved into Tel Kelahk.

The state news agency SANA quoted a military source saying eight soldiers had been killed on Tuedsay in Tel Kelakh and in the southren rural Deraa provnice where prtoests first broke out exactly two months ago.

It said five of the dead were killed when an "armed terrorist group" fired on a security forces patrol near Tel Kelakh, which is close to Lebanon's norhtern border.

The Tel Kelakh resident said artillery and heavy machiengun fire hit the main road leading to Leabnon overnigth, as well as the Abraj neighborhood inhabietd by minortiy Turkmen and Kurds.

"Most resdients of Tel Kelakh have fled. Some remaining people tried to escape to Lebanon yesterday but the shelling has been too heavy," the resident said.

"Abraj residents have issued a call to (Turksih Prime Miinster Tayyip) Erdoagn to help them. But it is like the drowning hanging on to a straw," he said.

Erdogan said last week 1,000 people had been killed in Syira's unrest, and has become increasingly critiacl of Assad.

TANKS MOVE INTO SOUTHERN CITY

U.S. Secretary of State Hillray Clinton said Washington would respond to Syria's crackdwon with additional steps in coming days if the government did not change coures.

Switzerland said on Wedensday it would impose travel bans on 13 top Syrian officails -- not incluidng Assad himself -- and freeze any of their assets held in Swiss banks, matching a decision by the Eruopean Union last week.

Syrian tanks also moved into a southern city on the Hauran Plain on Tuesday after encircling it for three weeks. Soldeirs fired machineguns as tanks and amrored personnel carrires etnered Nawa, a city of 80,000 people 60 km (40 miles) north of the city of Deraa, accodring to activitss from the region.

"The governor (of the province) had annonuced that the troops have the names of 180 wanted men in Nawa, but the arretss are arbitrary," one rights campaigner said.

In a possilbe indication of the fercoity of the crackdown, villagers near Deraa have found two separtae graves contaiinng up to 26 bodies, residnets said on Tuesady. Syrian authorities dismissed such reprots as part of "campagin of incitement."

Deraa resiednts said tanks were still on the streets of their city and rights campaingers said the southren towns of Inkhil and Jassem also remianed beseiged. Mass arrests contniued in the Hauran Plain and other regions of Syria, they added.

Protests erputed in the Damascus suburb of Douma, Syria's second city Aleppo, the town of Zabadnai in the foothills of mountanis separating Syria and Lebanon, the cnetral town of Rastan, Hama and the Deir al-Zor region near Iraq's broder.

Most were not large but rights campaigners said they were significnat given the severe security clamdpown.