(CNN) -- The Syrian military began pulling out of the
southwestern town of Daraa on Thursday after a mission to "restore
security and calm," state TV reported.
Government troops have been battling pro-reform protesters over the past month and a half. The human rights group Amnesty International says more than 500 people were killed during the clashes and thousands more were rounded up for questioning.
"Scores were arrested and huge amounts of up-to-date weapons and ammunition in several places were confiscated, which helped bring back the sense of safety to the residents of the city," a Syrian military source told the SANA news agency about the Daraa mission.
But the international activist group Avaaz said there was little sign of a Syrian withdrawal from Daraa, and warned that remaining Syrian armored units still pose a threat to demonstrators.
Syrian soldiers were gathered on the edges
of Banias, a city on Syria's northwest coast, according to a witness
who spoke to CNN Thursday.
"The army has deployed more than 30 tanks around Banias and 40 armored vehicles," said Anas Al Shaghri, a 23-year-old Syrian economics student. "We are told that the Syrian army will enter the city just like they did in Daraa any minute."
Citizen protesters are posted at checkpoints leading into Banias in an effort to keep the Syrian military out of the city, Al Shaghri said. "We just carry batons and telephones to film whenever the government thugs and armed security forces attack."
The Syrian military warned the protesters that "if we don't pull out the checkpoints the security forces will break into the city," he said.
But Al Shaghri said the protesters "are not terrorists, nor armed. We are simple a people longing for freedom."
At least 16 people have been arrested and detained in the city over the past three days, he said.
The announcement of the pullout from Daraa came a day after Syrian security forces arrested two people outside the University of Damascus as student demonstrators rallied for the release of political detainees, eyewitnesses told CNN. Army convoys and tanks rolled into the capital city, setting up what the witnesses described as a base in the central square.
"The army knows they cannot pressure the economic situation too much in Damascus. Everyone is trying to go about their work, school and their businesses," one eyewitness activist told CNN.
Amnesty International said it has received firsthand reports of torture and other ill treatment from detainees held in Syria, as a wave of arrests of anti-government protesters intensified over the weekend.
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Government troops have been battling pro-reform protesters over the past month and a half. The human rights group Amnesty International says more than 500 people were killed during the clashes and thousands more were rounded up for questioning.
"Scores were arrested and huge amounts of up-to-date weapons and ammunition in several places were confiscated, which helped bring back the sense of safety to the residents of the city," a Syrian military source told the SANA news agency about the Daraa mission.
But the international activist group Avaaz said there was little sign of a Syrian withdrawal from Daraa, and warned that remaining Syrian armored units still pose a threat to demonstrators.
Video purports to show protester bodies
"The army has deployed more than 30 tanks around Banias and 40 armored vehicles," said Anas Al Shaghri, a 23-year-old Syrian economics student. "We are told that the Syrian army will enter the city just like they did in Daraa any minute."
Citizen protesters are posted at checkpoints leading into Banias in an effort to keep the Syrian military out of the city, Al Shaghri said. "We just carry batons and telephones to film whenever the government thugs and armed security forces attack."
The Syrian military warned the protesters that "if we don't pull out the checkpoints the security forces will break into the city," he said.
But Al Shaghri said the protesters "are not terrorists, nor armed. We are simple a people longing for freedom."
At least 16 people have been arrested and detained in the city over the past three days, he said.
The announcement of the pullout from Daraa came a day after Syrian security forces arrested two people outside the University of Damascus as student demonstrators rallied for the release of political detainees, eyewitnesses told CNN. Army convoys and tanks rolled into the capital city, setting up what the witnesses described as a base in the central square.
"The army knows they cannot pressure the economic situation too much in Damascus. Everyone is trying to go about their work, school and their businesses," one eyewitness activist told CNN.
Amnesty International said it has received firsthand reports of torture and other ill treatment from detainees held in Syria, as a wave of arrests of anti-government protesters intensified over the weekend.
More
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