Revenge attack fear as Syrian army surrounds rebel village

Syrian troops and heavy armour encircled the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour yesterday, as hundreds of people fled across the nearby Turkish border fearing wholesale bloodshed.

The town emptied as residents made their way through olive groves and along gravel roads to escape surrounding tanks and elite forces, one resident said.

Turkey said more than 2,000 people had crossed to the Guvecci area yesterday alone. Many were given temporary shelter in tents, while others were housed by Turkish relatives.

The refugee crisis is the latest chapter in an uprising intended to remove president Bashar al-Assad. His regime's brutal crackdown has drawn widespread international condemnation.

In Geneva, Navi Pillay, the United Nations' High Commissioner for Human Rights, accused Syria of trying to "bludgeon its population into submission" by attacking anti-government protesters with snipers, tanks and artillery.

A man who stayed behind in Jisr al-Shughour said the town was all but empty and people in a nearby village had warned that hundreds of soldiers were massing along with 27 tanks and 50 armoured personnel carriers.

He said: "It seems they are ready to launch the attack."

Syrian activists say more than 1,300 people have died in the 11-week uprising, most of them unarmed civilians; a government spokeswoman claimed 500 security forces had died, including 120 in the Jisr al-Shughour area this week.

Groups of Syrians were crossing into Turkey by the hour from the province of Idlib, on motorbikes, pick-up trucks and on foot.

"I don't want to die. I want Bashar Assad to go," said one Syrian teenager, who gave the name Ahmad. Activists claim more than 10,000 people have been detained since mid-March.

Tanks were also said to have been deployed in Aleppo, the province whose capital of the same name is Syria's second city.

The uprising has featured weekly protests. Activists have used Facebook and YouTube to bolster their claims that the government is killing innocent Syrians. A new video shows a 15-year-old boy, identified as Tamer Mohammed al-Sharei, who was said to have been tortured by security forces. The dark skinned body was placed in a wooden coffin, with a piece of paper marked "12" placed on his chest. "He is my son," a woman screams.

The boy had been missing since 29 April when he was last seen in the village of Saida in the southern province of Deraa on the same day and location where Hamza al-Khatib, 13, went missing. Khatib became a symbol of Syria's uprising after his body was returned to his family late last month with marks of torture.His corpse was bullet-ridden and his genitals had been mutilated.

The struggle over Jisr al-Shughour and Idlib is a critical test for Mr Assad's regime, which claimed "armed groups" had killed 120 security forces in the area but has not commented on reports of a mutiny by military units.

An elite Syrian military unit believed to be led by Mr Assad's younger brother, Maher, has now all but surrounded Jisr al-Shughour, leaving open just one route to the border 12 miles away, according to activist Mustafa Osso.

In a village about six miles from Jisr al-Shughour, residents came out to the streets to welcome Mr Assad's forces heading toward the northwestern town. Some threw roses while others offered them cheese, yogurt and other foods, according to an embedded Syrian reporter.

Ahmed Ali, 47, told the reporter, "we are very pleased to see the army who came to rescue us from those criminals."

Al-Watan, a pro-government newspaper, reported yesterday that the army was mobilising for a confrontation that would last for days in Idlib. It said troops faced around 2,000 gunmen backed by extremist villagers.