AMMAN: Syrian tanks and armoured vehicles reinforced positions around the northern town of Maarat Al-Numaan Thursday after thousands of people fled President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on dissent. Residents and a Syrian rights group said dozens of tanks and personnel carriers also deployed around Khan Sheikhoun, a town about 30 km south of Maarat al-Numaan on the main north-south highway linking Damascus and Aleppo. The military crackdown has forced thousands of refugees to stream north across the border into Turkey, where Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu held talks with a Syrian envoy in which he called on Damascus to ends its violent crackdown on protesters and pass democratic reforms. Syrian rights groups say 1,300 civilians and more than 300 soldiers and police have been killed since protests, inspired by Arab uprisings which toppled leaders in Egypt and Tunisia, broke out in March against 41 years of rule by the Assad family.
