Hama has seen some of the biggest protests yet The Syrian army has stormed the western city of Hama, with residents saying that dozens of people have been killed and injured.
Hama, a hub of anti-government protest, has been besieged for nearly a month.Locals have reported "intense gunfire" after troops and tanks moved into the city from several directions at dawn.
The army is signalling that it will not tolerate large-scale unrest ahead of the month of Ramadan, when protests are expected to grow, correspondents say.
Syria has seen more than four months of protests against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad.
Centre of protests A doctor in Hama told Reuters news agency that the death toll was rising rapidly, putting the latest estimate at 24.
He said the city's Badr, al-Horani and Hikmeh hospitals had received 19, three and two dead bodies respectively.
"[Tanks] are firing their heavy machineguns randomly and overrunning makeshift road blocks erected by the inhabitants," he said by phone, with machinegun fire in the background.
Activists say more than 1,500 civilians and 350 security personnel have been killed across Syria since protests began in mid-March. More than 12,600 have been arrested and 3,000 others are missing.
The protests show no sign of letting up despite a government crackdown that has brought international condemnation and sanctions.
On Saturday, troops shot dead three people who threw stones at a military convoy sent to quash unrest in the eastern city of Deir al-Zour, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Spokesman Rami Abdel Rahman said about 60 military vehicles, including tanks, personnel carriers and trucks crammed with soldiers deployed in the key oil hub, which has seen near daily protests.
A total of 20 people were killed and 35 wounded on Friday as hundreds of thousands of protested in cities across Syria, rights groups said.
More than 500 people were arrested in a single operation in the Qadam neighbourhood of the capital Damascus, they added
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