YAYLADAGI, Turkey — Elite Syrian forces moved swiftly through the country’s restive north Friday, raining tank shells on rebellious towns, torching farmland and shooting protesters who tried to tear down a poster of President Bashar Assad, activists and refugees said.
At least 32 people were killed, activists said, and undaunted protests extended to every major city.
The leader of neighboring Turkey, angered by violence that has sent more than 4,000 Syrians streaming across the border, accused the Assad regime of “savagery.”
Backed by helicopters and tanks, the troops responsible for most of the violence Friday were thought to be from an elite division commanded by Assad’s younger brother, Maher. The decision to mobilize his unit against the most serious threats to the 40-year Assad regime could be a sign of concern about the loyalty of regular conscripts.
Syrians who escaped from the town of Jisr al-Shughour into Turkey said the army came after police turned their guns on one another and soldiers refused orders to fire on protesters last week.
Syrian state television has said 120 officers and security personnel were killed by gunmen. A man who remained behind said the few residents left were hoping barricades of burning tires could hold off the reinforcements surrounding them.
Twenty-five miles to the southeast in the town of Maaret al-Numan, thousands of protesters overwhelmed security officers and torched the courthouse and police station, and the army responded with tank shells, a Syrian opposition figure told The Associated Press by telephone, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Syria’s state-run television appeared to confirm at least part of the report, saying gunmen opened fire on police stations, causing casualties among security officials.
Refugees trying to escape into Turkey gave a more detailed picture of the events in the north.
A group of young men who arrived at the Turkish village of Guvecci on Friday said relatives who stayed behind told them Syrian forces were burning homes and fields in the village of Sirmaniyeh, near Jisr al-Shughour. One of the men said helicopters had fired on a mosque there; then he refused to say anything more.
“They are burning down everything there,” said a young man who identified himself only as Adil. “They said they even killed animals. The people have no weapons; they can’t defend themselves. The only thing they can do is escape.”
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he will keep the frontier open to Syrians fleeing violence, and the Turkish military was increasing border security to better manage the influx of refugees.
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