Syria seals border with Jordan

[April 25, 2011]  AMMAN (AP) -- A Jordanian security official says Syria has sealed the border with Jordan and is preventing people from leaving the country.

The Jordanian border crossing lies close to the southern Syrian town of Daraa, where government forces were launching a sharp crackdown on protesters Monday. Some of the fiercest protests against the Syrian regime have taken place in Daraa.

The official spoke on customary condition of anonymity.

The border closure may aim to prevent Syrian demonstrators and activists from feeling to nearby Jordan.

The head of Syria's Customs Department denied that Damascus has closed its land borders with Jordan.

Mustafa al-Bouqai told The Associated Press that crossings across the frontier are open as normal.

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THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE.
AP's earlier story is below.

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BEIRUT (AP) -- Syrian troops backed by tanks, snipers and knife-wielding security forces stormed the southern city of Daraa early Monday, killing at least five people in a clear escalation of the crackdown on a five-week uprising against President Bashar Assad's authoritarian regime, witnesses and activists said.

The violence in Daraa, where the protest movement kicked off in mid-March, was the most intense in a series of moves to crush dissent in at least two other towns Monday. More than 300 people have been killed across the country since the anti-government demonstrations began more than a month ago.

Since then, the relentless crackdown on demonstrations has only served to invigorate protesters whose rage over the bloodshed has all but eclipsed their earlier demands for modest reforms. Now, many are seeking Assad's downfall.

"We need international intervention. We need countries to help us," shouted a witness in Daraa who said he saw five corpses after security forces opened fire on a car. He spoke to The Associated Press by telephone.

Another witness said people were using mosque loudspeakers in Daraa to summon doctors to help the wounded as busloads of security forces and troops conducted house-to-house searches, causing panic in the streets.

"They are entering houses, they are searching the houses," he said. "They are carrying knives and guns."

All witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. Syria has banned nearly all foreign media and restricted access to trouble spots since the uprising began, making it nearly impossible to get independent assessments.

Still, the regime was clearly stepping up its efforts to crush the uprising. Although the army has been used before to quell demonstrations, their presence Monday was widespread and heavy-handed.

There had been signs that the regime was planning to launch a massive crackdown.

Last week, Assad fulfilled a key demand of the protest movement by abolishing nearly 50-year-old emergency laws that had given the regime a free hand to arrest people without cause. But he coupled the concession with a stern warning that protesters would have no excuse to hold mass protests anymore, and any further unrest would be considered sabotage.

When protesters defied his order and held demonstrations on Friday -- the main day for protests around the Arab world -- they were met with a relentless crackdown that has not let up even three days later. Authorities also are conducting sweeping arrests of activists and protesters.

On social media, activists posted footage of what they said were troops firing throughout Daraa on Monday.

The crackle of heavy gunfire punctuates the footage, as well as the labored, frightened breathing of the activist filming the footage. The activist repeats the date and location and says: "The army forces are entering Daraa. They are shelling the city of Daraa."

The video could not be independently verified.

Also Monday, witnesses said Syrian security forces had opened fire in the coastal town of Jableh, where police and army units fired from rooftops over the weekend even though there were no apparent threats and no protests in progress.

On Monday, witnesses said security forces in camouflage uniforms -- some with their faces covered -- and masked gunmen dressed in black were roaming the town's streets.

"Jableh is surrounded by security forces," the witness said, speaking by telephone. "The dead are in the mosques and the houses. We can't get them out."

Violence also was reported in Douma, a suburb of the capital, Damascus, where authorities were making sweeping arrests.

"The security has been heavy here since Friday, but overnight they cut off parts of the city from each other," a witness said. "They set up checkpoints to separate the quarters."

The rising level of violence in Syria -- more than 120 people have been killed since Friday -- has brought calls from the watchdog group Human Rights Watch for a U.N. inquiry.

Assad has blamed most of the unrest on a "foreign conspiracy" and armed thugs trying to sow sectarian strife. The state-run news agency SANA said 286 police officers have been wounded since the uprising began. It did not give further details.

But possible cracks could be emerging from within.

Two members stepped down from the provincial council in the southern region of Daraa, which has the highest death toll in the country. The resignations came a day after two lawmakers and a religious leader from Daraa also turned their backs on Assad in disgust over the killings.

Such internal rifts have added resonance since nearly all opposition figures have been either jailed or exiled during the 40-year dynasty of the Assad family.

[Associated Press; By JAMAL HALABY]

Hadid reported from Cairo.

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