President Bashar Assad has sent heavy armor, including tanks, and thousands of troops to the region as he struggles to crush a nearly three-month uprising against his family's 40-year rule. Human rights groups say more than 1,300 people have died in the government crackdown.
The military operation in the mostly deserted town of Jisr al-Shughour is in response to what the government claims were attacks by "armed groups" that killed more than 120 officers and security personnel. Refugees reaching Turkey said the chaos erupted as government forces and police mutinied and joined the local population against Assad forces.
Syrian state television on Saturday said army units arrested several leaders of the alleged armed groups in the area of Jisr al-Shughour, a city of about 40,000. About 80 percent of the population has fled, with more than 4,000 Syrians taking sanctuary across the Turkish frontier.
Syrian troops backed by dozens of tanks have been operating in the area for several days, securing towns and villages on their way to Jisr al-Shughour.
Government forces reportedly have been in position for an attack on Jisr al-Shughour for about two days, and it was not clear what was delaying the army from entering the town.
City resident and activist Jamil Saeb, reached by phone, suggested the army was afraid to take on people still in the town because they "are known to be exceptionally fierce."
He said several army deserters and officers were still in the town and have vowed to fight back and to protect the other, unarmed residents.
Jisr al-Shughour and the province of Idlib have a history of animosity toward the regime in Damascus. The town's Muslim Brotherhood population rose up against Assad's father, the late president Hafez Assad, in the late 1970s. It came under heavy government bombardment in 1980, with a reported 70 people killed. Residents say the numbers were much higher.
The events proved a prelude to a 1982 three-week bombing campaign against the city of Hama that crushed a Sunni uprising there, killing 10,000 to 25,000 people, according to Amnesty International estimates.
"We hope we will not have to take up weapons," Saeb said, adding remaining residents were so far insisting on "peaceful resistance." Saeb spoke using a Turkish mobile phone from a town only few miles from the border.
Confirming information out of Syria is difficult. Communications are cut in areas where the uprising is strongest, including Jisr al-Shughour. Syrians who speak openly face retribution from the regime, and foreign journalists have been expelled.
Undaunted by the continuing and brutal crackdown, protests extended to every major city Friday, and activists said 36 people were killed when security forces opened fire during demonstrations across the country. The dead included 20 from the northern Idlib province, home to Jisr al-Shughour.
Twenty-five miles (40 kilometers) to the southeast in the town of Maaret al-Numan, thousands of protesters overwhelmed security forces and torched the courthouse and police station. The army responded with tank shells, a Syrian opposition figure told The Associated Press by telephone, speaking on condition of anonymity, fearing retribution.
