MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Tanks, bombings and snipers can’t stop Syrian protests from intensifying

The city of Deraa under siege of tanks and special forces. Photo EPA

Anti-government protesters in Syria are planning further demonstrations during the week, in spite of the violent crackdown including tanks, bombings and snipers unleashed on them.

Activists, vowing to keep up the pressure on the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, said the “week of breaking the siege” protests would begin in Deraa on Sunday and around the capital, Damascus, on Monday.

They were referring to the brutal lockdown imposed on the southern city of Deraa and in the Damascus suburb of Douma by the authorities in a bid to quell the unprecedented protests.

Hundreds have been killed in the weeks since the protests first erupted, shaking Assad's one-party rule.

Rallies are planned in the northern towns of Baniyas and Jableh on Tuesday, while protests are planned on Wednesday in Homs, Talbisseh and in Tall Kalakh on the border with Lebanon. Nationwide night vigils are also to be held on Thursday.

The determined call for renewed protests came as security forces continued to come down heavily on the protesters. Quoting a source in Deraa, Al Jazeera's Rula Amin said the situation in the city remained tense though tank shelling had ceased.

”Security forces are intensifying their house to house searches and (there have been) many random arrests.

“He says hundreds of people have been arrested...government says its forces arrested 149 people in Deraa. Old city and the Karak neighbourhood are bearing the brunt of the Sunday operation”.

Deeera where protests started and is a symbol of defiance has been tightly blocked since last Monday when the army moved in with tanks and snipers.