Military, Syria | featured news

Syrian tanks rolled into a northwestern village and opened fire Monday, wounding at least six people in the latest military maneuver in a weekslong siege near the Turkish border that seeks to crush the country's pro-democracy uprising, activists said.

Syrian tanks and helicopters opened fire and killed at least two civilians as the military advanced through a series of villages in northwestern Syria on Thursday, a push that sent residents running for the hills, several villagers said in phone calls with CNN.

Syrian military forces are poised to enter another northern town, while an increasing number of civilians are fleeing to Turkey to escape the military crackdown on anti-government protesters.

Tanks stormed the town of Talbiseh on Monday, a day after surrounding it, and at least 10 people were wounded, a resident said, in an expanding military campaign in central Syria to crush dissent against Baathist rule.

In his first comprehensive response to revolts across the Arab world, President Barack Obama is doling out punishment and praise, targeting Syrian President Bashar Assad for attacking his people but also promising fresh U.S. aid to nations that support democracy.

Syria was under growing pressure on Thursday to stop using military force against anti-government protesters after the United States slapped sanctions on President Bashar al-Assad over human rights violations.

Syrian army troops backed by tanks and helicopters on Saturday took a prominent mosque that had been controlled by residents in a besieged southern city, killing four people, a witness said.

At least seven people are killed in the city of Dara, a flashpoint in the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime. Military officers say troops have been ordered to fire on any protester, but activists report that some are resisting.

A Syrian man who was held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has sued Defense Secretary Robert Gates and former military officers, seeking compensation for alleged torture and inhumane treatment during his nine years of detention.