Military assault continue in Syria

Syrias army is continuing operations in several locations, as the countrys leadership is facing increasing pressure to end its bloody crackdown onanti-government protesters.Two civilians were killed and several more wounded in the northwestern Idlib province bordering Turkey on Tuesday, a rights group said.Operations this morning in Idlib resulted in two deaths and several wounded by security forces gunfire, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement.Around a dozen tanks and other armoured vehicles attacked the Binnish and Sirmeen areas of Idlib.The Local Co-ordination Committees said the town of Sirmeen was attacked from three sides, with troops carrying out house raids and arbitrary arrests.Tanks were also deployed in and around the city of Idlib, following big demonstrations there, the activists said.Opposition sources said up to seven people had been shot dead by security forces at a funeral in the southern city of Deraa, the cradle of the five-month uprising against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad.The funeral was for a youth who had been arrested earlier this week when he took part in a protest. His body was handed to relatives on Monday with visible signs of torture, according to relatives.In the east of the country, the army maintained its siege of the city of Deir ez-Zor, reportedly shelling at least one neighbourhood.At least 65 people had been killed since tanks and armoured vehicles entered the provincial capital on Sunday.The Syrian Observatory says more than 2,050 people, including almost 400 members of the security forces, have been killed since the uprising began.Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain recalled their ambassadors from Syria to discuss the situation.On the diplomatic front, Turkeys foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, arrived in Damascus to press the Syrian leadership into ending the violent crackdown on demonstrations.