Syrian tanks launched a pre-dawn attack Sunday on the northeastern Syrian city of Deir al-Zour, according to activists based in Lebanon, DPA reported.
"Some 200 tanks under the barrage of heavy shelling entered the city early Sunday morning," Rami, a Syrian activist who asked to withhold his surname for fear of reprisal, told the German Press Agency dpa.
"Intial reports are saying at least two people were killed and dozens were wounded," he added.
The Local Coordination Committees of Syria, which has been monitoring anti-regime protests since they started in mid-March, said said the army had entered nine areas in the city.
"Loud explosions could heard and heavy gunfire echoed across the city," it said.
The Syrian army started on Saturday to deploy around the city in preparation for the assault, he added.
The attack came after Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said Saturday that "free and fair" elections for a new parliament would take place by the end of the year.
More than 1,650 people and around 350 security personnel have been killed since pro-democracy protests began, activists said.
These reports cold not be independently verified, as the Syrian authorities have barred most foreign media and international human rights groups from the country.
A Lebanese security source at the northern border with Syria said dozens of families fleeing from Homs and Deir al-Zour arrived in the area of Wadi Khaled, in northern Lebanon, in the past 24 hours.
Some 5,000 Syrians have fled into Lebanon since the uprising started in their country.
A Lebanese military prosecutor has charged two Lebanese men with allegedly smuggling weapons from the Beirut Marina to Syria, local media said Sunday.
Wasim Tamim and Samir Tamim from the northern port city of Tripoli were arrested in Beirut Friday trying to smuggle weapons to the Syrian port of Banias, radio reports said. dpa wh tl Author:Weedah Hamzah
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