Tank convoy seen moving around Damascus

AMMAN, Apr 27 (agencies): A convoy of at least 30 Syrian army tanks was seen moving on tank carriers on the Damascus circular highway Wednesday. The tanks were coming from the southwest of Damascus near the Golan Heights frontier with Israel and passed on the highway at about 0500 GMT, the witness said. They were heading in the direction leading to the northern suburb of Douma and to the southern city of Deraa, where President Bashar al-Assad sent forces to crush a peaceful protests against his autocratic rule. Meanwhile: A human rights activist says gunfire and sporadic explosions are being heard in the southern city of Daraa after the Syrian army sent in more tanks and reinforcements. Mustafa Osso is in Damascus, but he cited eyewitnesses on the ground in Daraa. He said the troops arrived early Wednesday from military bases in the area. A relentless crackdown on a monthlong uprising since mid-March has killed more than 400 people across Syria, with 120 dead over the weekend. Meanwhile: Syrian security forces shot dead at least six people in the southern flashpoint town of Daraa on Tuesday, a militant on the scene said. Human rights activist Abdullah Abazid said he had a list of the names of the "martyrs" who included the imam of a mosque. Intensive firing was heard late into the night in Daraa, he added. Syria bolstered its troops on Tuesday in the town, the epicentre of protests against the regime, as a rights group appealed for UN intervention in a bloody crackdown it said has killed 400 people since mid-March.