DAMASCUS, Syria, July 31 (UPI) -- The Syrian army moved into Hama and other rebellious cities Sunday, leaving scores dead, witnesses and activists said.
The United States condemned the crackdown.
The (Lebanon) Daily Star reported Syrian forces had killed at least 140 people Sunday, including up to 100 in Hama and at least 40 more civilians had died elsewhere across the country. The newspaper said some human rights groups estimated the death toll was as high as 150 in Hama alone.
The newspaper said witnesses recounted seeing corpses lying in the streets and hospitals overwhelmed with casualties.
Witnesses told the Star Hama residents shouted "God is great!" and threw firebombs, stones and sticks at the tanks.Gunfire and tank shells could be heard across the city.
"Massacres, massacres are taking place here. History is repeating itself. It is repeating itself," opposition activist Obada Arwany told The New York Times from Hama, where President Bashar Assad's father, Hafez, carried out a notorious slaughter in 1982.
"It is a last-minute attempt by the regime to reclaim cities that it lost control of, even by force," before the holy month of Ramadan begins, said Omar Idlibi of the Local Coordination Committee, which helps organize and document the uprising.
In Washington, the White House issued a statement from President Barack Obama on the violence by the regime.
"I am appalled by the Syrian government's use of violence and brutality against its own people," Obama said in part. "The reports out of Hama are horrifying and demonstrate the true character of the Syrian regime. Once again, President Assad has shown that he is completely incapable and unwilling to respond to the legitimate grievances of the Syrian people. His use of torture, corruption and terror puts him on the wrong side of history and his people. ... In the days ahead, the United States will continue to increase our pressure on the Syrian regime, and work with others around the world to isolate the Assad government and stand with the Syrian people."
Hama residents told the BBC troops began entering the city at dawn and described unarmed civilians facing tanks at barricades.
"Hama will be very harsh to them … the whole city has decided to resist with stones, not weapons. The army will either join demonstrators or leave our city," Omar al Habbai of the Local Coordination Committee told CNN.
Sham, a pro-opposition Web site, said some soldiers had deserted and embraced protesters in Hama, where the regime ceded control in June.
Since the mass protests against Assad began in March, about 1,500 civilians and 350 members of the security forces have been killed. More than 12,600 people have been arrested and 3,000 civilians are listed as missing.
