Russia continued to bomb Syria for a third day yesterday, mainly hitting areas held by rival insurgent groups rather than Islamic State (IS) fighters it said it was targeting.

Syrian military aircraft have bombed the north-western town of Jisr al-Shughour today, a day after insurgents seized control of it as part of a broader offensive that has left government forces in the area reeling.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has accused the Syrian regime of committing “almost certain” crimes against humanity as activists reported fresh violence and the arrest of several prominent dissidents.

Nineteen people have been reported killed as Syrian army forces spread through a restive mountainous area near the Turkish border.

Syrian troops backed by tanks and firing heavy machine guns swept into a village near the Turkish border today as the army intensified operations in the northwest where their have been heavy clashes between loyalist troops and defectors.

SYRIAN security forces have made sweeping arrests, randomly detaining males above the age of 16 in a north-western province.

Syrian security forces have made sweeping arrests, randomly detaining males above the age of 16 in a north-western province, reports say.

Syrians ran for their lives today as elite army units swept through a northern province, expanding a deadly operation to crush signs of dissent against President Bashar Assad.

Angelina Jolie wants to visit Syrian refugees who have fled violence and are camped out on the Turkish side of the border, Turkey said today.

SYRIAN troops using tanks and helicopters pushed toward a northern town after arresting hundreds of people in villages near Jisr al-Shughour, residents said, as more refugees fled to Turkey.

Syrian tanks pushed toward more towns and villages near the Turkish and Iraqi borders today, expanding the government crackdown against rebels.

Syrian tanks were reported to be pushing toward more towns and villages near the border with Turkey today.

RIGHTS campaigners have reacted furiously after a US student based in Scotland unmasked himself as the author of the “Gay Girl in Damascus” blogs, which charted the security crackdown in Syria.

Elite Syrian troops backed by helicopters and tanks have regained control of a town where police and soldiers joined forces with the protesters they were ordered to shoot – a decisive assault from a government prepared for an all-out battle to keep power.

ELITE Syrian troops backed by helicopters and tanks yesterday regained control of a town where police and soldiers had joined forces with the protesters they were ordered to shoot.

Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague warned today that prospects for a UN Security Council resolution on Syria were “on a knife edge” as the regime’s brutal crackdown continued.

Syrian army troops and tanks moved into a restive north western city from two sides today, extending the crackdown on a region that is historically hostile the Damascus regime.

Elite Syrian forces have moved swiftly through the country's restive north, raining tank shells on rebellious towns, torching farmland and shooting protesters who tried to tear down a poster of President Bashar Assad, activists and refugees said.

Syrian forces have shelled a town in the country’s restive north and opened fire on scattered protests nationwide, killing at least 21 people, activists said.

Syrian troops backed by dozens of tanks have massed outside a virtually deserted town near the Turkish border, preparing to move in against protesters.

MORE than 2,400 Syrians have fled to Turkey to escape a feared army crackdown, officials said yesterday, in another sign that President Bashar al-Assad’s struggle with protesters is disturbing Syria’s neighbours.

Syrian tanks and elite troops were today heading to a northern area ahead of a possible attack on a town where soldiers reportedly joined an anti-government uprising.

ARMED men attacked Syrian security forces in a tense northern city yesterday, Syrian officials said, and 120 policemen and security forces were killed in a region where the army has carried out days of deadly assaults on protesters calling for the end of President Bashar Assad’s rule.

Eighty Syrian policemen and security force members have been killed in an ambush and gun battle in a tense northern town, according to state TV.