140 feared dead as Syrian tanks bid to crush dissent

SYRIAN security forces backed by tanks and snipers launched a ferocious assault on defiant cities and towns yesterday, killing up to 140 people as the regime raced to crush dissent ahead of Ramadan.

Corpses littered the streets after a surge in violence that drew widespread international condemnation.

Estimates of the death toll, which were impossible to verify, ranged from around 75 people to nearly 140 on a day when the attacks began before dawn and witnesses said they were too frightened to collect corpses from the streets.