Syrian troops kill 11 in restive town near Lebanon

The shooting in the western town of Qusair also wounded many others, according to several Syrian human rights and activists groups.Anti-government protests are common in Qusair and, combined with the early morning assault on the town of Saraqeb near the Turkish border, reflected the determination of President Bashar Assad to crush the five-month old uprising despite mounting international condemnation.The US imposed new sanctions on Wednesday, and a flurry of foreign diplomats have rolled through Damascus urging Assad to end a campaign of killing that rights groups say has left about 1,700 dead since mid-March. Turkeys foreign minister, a day after meeting with Assad, on Wednesday renewed his condemnation of the attacks.The White House said President Barack Obama spoke with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan to underscore his deep concern about the Syrian governments use of violence against civilians.It said the two agreed on Thursday that the violence in Syria must stop and that the demands of the Syrian people for a transition to democracy must be met. Obama and Erdogan agreed to consult closely on the situation in the coming days.A U.S.-based international human rights groups released a report Wednesday night accusing Syrian authorities of targeting medical facilities, health workers and their patients. It called on the government to safeguard doctors obligations to provide neutral and ethical care for civilians.Physicians for Human Rights said security forces control access to hospitals, and many injured civilians in need of critical care are forgoing treatment because they fear being detained and tortured if they seek care at government-controlled medical facilities.In addition to the widely reported atrocities committed by the government, PHR has received reports of serious violations of medical neutrality in Syria, a statement by the group said.It also quoted a group of Syrian physicians as saying 134 doctors have either been detained by the government or have disappeared.In a continuing nationwide campaign of arrests, Syrian activists said Thursday that security forces detained Abdul-Karim Rihawi, the Damascus-based head of the Syrian Human Rights League. A longtime rights activist, Rihawi had been tracking government violations and documenting deaths in Syria.