BEIRUT — Troops in tanks and armored vehicles entered a key oil-industry city on Syria’s Mediterranean coast Saturday, taking up position in a hilltop Crusader castle and cutting off power and phone lines. An activist said three women protesting the crackdown were shot dead.
The move against Banias, which had become a bastion of anti-regime demonstrations in recent days, signals an expanding campaign by President Bashar Assad aimed at crushing the country’s seven-week nationwide uprising.
Ammar Qurabi of the National Organization for Human Rights said the three women were protesting the siege and the cutting of power lines when they were shot dead by plainclothes security forces or pro-government gunmen.
The shooting Saturday occurred near al-Marqab, about a mile southeast of Banias. Qurabi said gunfire was continuing and several other people were wounded.
The events in Banias, a day after security forces killed 30 people in nationwide protests, came on the heels of a large- scale military operation in the flashpoint southern city of Daraa. The 11-day siege, in which about 50 residents were killed, triggered international outrage and condemnation.
The U.S. has already targeted three top Syrian officials as well as Syria’s intelligence agency and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard with sanctions over the crackdown.
The European Union is expected to place sanctions on Syrian officials this month, and the U.N. said Saturday that it is sending a team into Syria to investigate the situation.
An operation in Banias similar to the one in Daraa, where the uprising began, risks further isolating Assad’s regime, which has used brutal military force to crush the revolt against his family’s 40-year dynasty.
Details of the troop deployment in Banias, for weeks the scene of demonstrations demanding regime change, were scarce as phone lines and other communication with the area were mostly cut off.
But an eyewitness reached by The Associated Press said soldiers deployed in Banias early Saturday on tanks and armored vehicles, stretching for several miles along the coastal highway as they approached. He said tanks moved into the area and were stationed in at least three Sunni villages south of Banias.
Roundup
TUNISIA: Curfew ordered by interim government.
Tunisia’s caretaker government has ordered an overnight curfew for the capital and nearby areas, following three days of renewed protests over fears that the country’s efforts at democracy are in jeopardy.
The interior and defense ministries, in a statement relayed by the state news agency, said the curfew for the “Grand Tunis” region started Saturday and will run from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. nightly.
The move, after three days of clashes between hundreds of angry protesters and riot police, marked the interim government’s effort to bring order back to Tunisia after massive street upheaval brought down the 23-year regime of former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January.
YEMEN: One killed as police clash with protesters.
One demonstrator was killed and 11 injured Saturday in a southern town when police descended on thousands rallying for the ouster of Yemen’s longtime president, an activist said.
Nouh al-Wafi said police fired tear gas and live ammunition to disperse protesters in the town of al-Maafir in Taiz province. The demonstrators were mainly students but were joined later by other residents.
In several other cities — including Aden, Saada and Hodeida — protesters observed a one-day shutdown of offices and businesses Saturday as part of the civil disobedience campaign called by the opposition to pressure President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down.
Denver Post wire services
