Assad's army ended an 11-day seige of Deraa yesterday, but his forces are simply shifting elsewhere:
Tanks have taken up positions near the urban centres of Homs, Rastan and Baniyas in the past two day, as activists vowed a "Day of Defiance" on Friday to press a seven-week-old anti-regime campaign in which rights groups say 607 people have been killed and 8,000 others jailed or gone missing. Troops were also deployed in the Damascus suburbs of Erbin, Saqba, Douma and in the town of Tel, north of the capital, the agency reported.
An activist, who asked to remain anonymous for his own safety, told Al Jazeera in a phone interview from Baniyas that the Syrian government was continuing to reinforce its forces, tanks and surveillance on Thursday. "We are facing a sort of a cleansing war against the people of Baniyas," he said.
The bodies are already piling up:
There were reports that five people had been killed in Homs and one in Hama, but Al Jazeera could not immediately verify the reports. "We were chanting 'The people and the army are one' and 'The people want to topple the regime'," a witness told Al Jazeera over the phone. "Then security and thugs opened fire."
The above footage shows live ammunition and tear gas fired at the residents of Homs. More clips here. Live-blog updates here and here.
The Dish 