Amman - Syrian troops rounded up hundreds of people in a sweep through villages near Jisr al-Shughour on Monday, fleeing residents said, after President Bashar al-Assad's army retook the rebellious northwestern town.
Nearly 7 000 Syrians have fled the region around Jisr al-Shughour, seeking sanctuary in neighbouring Turkey, while thousands more are living rough in rural areas just inside Syria, activists say.
Hours of thunderstorms and drenching rain made conditions even more miserable for the thousands of people waiting in the hills on Monday, ready to flee across the border if Syrian troops advance towards them.
Monday's wave of arrests followed an assault by troops, tanks and helicopters to regain control of the town, one week after authorities said 120 security personnel were killed there in fighting they blamed on “armed groups”.
Some residents said those killed were soldiers who had mutinied, refusing to shoot protesters and joining demonstrators calling for an end to Assad's rule.
The town of 50 000, just 20km south of the Turkish border, is the latest focus of a military crackdown on the protests which have swept Syria for nearly three months and continue despite the deaths of hundreds of civilians.
Refugees from Jisr al-Shughour said the military was combing villages to the east of the town and arresting hundreds of men between the ages of 18 and 40, in a pattern seen in other military crackdowns since the unrest started in March.
Residents said the army unit that took the town was commanded by Assad's brother Maher.
Ahmad Yassin, 27, said he left his 7 000 square metre plot of land east of Jisr al-Shughour early on Monday when a force of 200 soldiers and men wearing black came in armoured personnel carriers and cars and poured petrol on the wheat crops.
“I tried to save my three cows but there was no time. I put my wife and two children in the car and drove straight to the border,” he said.
His account of troops setting fire to crops echoed reports from other refugees, but the official state news agency has accused “armed terrorist groups” of burning land as sabotage.
Syrian rights groups say 1 300 civilians have been killed since the start of the uprising. One group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, says more than 300 soldiers and police have also been killed. - Reuters