Defying government guns, thousands of Syrian protesters poured down city streets and a main highway today to press demands for President Bashar Assad’s ousting.

At least seven people have been reported shot dead when Syrian security forces opened fire on anti-government protesters.

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

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.

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.

A government crackdown on two Syrian towns in the country’s centre and south killed at least 33 people, including an 11-year-old girl shot dead by troops during a fierce shelling, activists have said.

Syrian troops bombarded a town in the central province of Homs with artillery today, causing several casualties a day after nine people were killed in a continuing crackdown in the country’s turbulent heartland, activists said.

SYRIAN government troops backed by tanks yesterday attacked two central towns that have seen intense protests against President Bashar Assad’s regime, while security forces opened fire at demonstrators in several parts of the country causing casualties, activists said.

Thousands of Syrians defied an unrelenting government crackdown and flooded the streets across the country to buttress their two-month uprising against the country’s authoritarian regime.

Syria’s president has granted citizenship to thousands of Kurds living in a north-eastern province as part of overtures to ease the pressure of widespread anti-government protests.