The Syrian regime widened its relentless crackdown against opposition strongholds yesterday by bombing a bridge used by refugees escaping to Lebanon and deploying tanks to pulverise two mosques in a town close to the Jordanian border.
People in Hirak, close to the southern city of Deraa, told the Independent that they had been surrounded by troops and security forces, as President Bashar al-Assad's troops battled gunmen from the rebel Free Syria Army.
"We're under siege," said a father-of-six as the sound of machinegun fire crackled in the distance. "They are firing shells at us and we are being attacked from the security headquarters."
Omar al-Arabi, 40, said Syrian army tanks had shelled two mosques in the town. One of the buildings, the Al-Omari Mosque, had been converted from an ancient Roman temple.
A second man from Hirak, which has been subject to clampdowns ever since its citizens joined the original uprising in nearby Deraa a year ago, pleaded for international intervention to protect citizens.