Syria unrest: 'Fresh crackdown' in north and east

Syrian forces have renewed their crackdown on protesters, activists say, with operations in Deir al-Zour in the east and Kahn Sheikhun in the north.

They said troops had opened fire on thousands of protesters in Deir al-Zour and attacked Kahn Sheikhun at dawn with tanks and troop carriers.
The crackdown intensified amid protests after Friday's noon prayers.
Activists reported eight deaths, taking the death-toll for the past 24 hours to more than 20.
Violence was reported in the restive central city of Homs, the capital Damascus, and Aleppo and Idlib near the Turkish border.
Earlier, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for wider international sanctions on the Syrian government.
More than 1,700 people have died and tens of thousands reportedly arrested since the uprising against the the 41-year rule of President Bashar al-Assad's family began in March.
'Intense gunfire' Witnesses and activists said thousands of people had come out to protest on Friday against President Assad after prayers in two mosques in Deir al-Zour.
Soldiers reportedly fired live ammunition as people left the mosques, sending worshippers running to take cover in alleyways.

Syrian state television admitted there had been small demonstrations after Friday prayers, but activists say they were far bigger and more widespread, says the BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut.
International journalists face severe restrictions to reporting in Syria, and it is hard to verify reports.
Abdel Rahman, head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said there had been a major army assault with tanks and troop carriers on Kahn Sheikhun, in north-western Idlib province, killing at least one woman.
Activists also reported that one person had been shot dead and others wounded in the Damascus suburb of Saqba.
Our correspondent says although Friday prayers remain a focal point for protests, during the current fasting month of Ramadan opponents of the regime are treating each day like a Friday, and people protesting every night after evening and early-morning prayers.
"The number of people killed and injured is increasing in Ramadan," said one protester who has been taking part in daily protests.
"We used to have 20 killed every Friday but now this number is being killed almost on a daily basis," he told the BBC.
Meanwhile, rights groups accuse the regime of targeting hospitals and arresting doctors for treating injured protesters.
"Any doctor who is discovered giving help to the injured is targeted and arrested," one Syrian doctor - who did not want to be named - told the BBC.
There are reports of troops preventing the wounded from reaching hospitals in some areas, and even of removing the bodies of dead protesters from hospitals. Activists say this is to make it harder to calculate the number of people killed in the regime's campaign to quash dissent.