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REUTERS:
Troops stormed into Deraa, cradle of a six-week-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's authoritarian rule, a week ago to try to crush protests that have spread across the country of 20 million. Power and communications have been disrupted.
On Saturday, tanks shelled the old quarter of the southern city and security forces stormed the Omari mosque, a focal point for protests.
"The shelling has intensified. It is the worst night. Women and children are on their rooftops chanting 'God is Greater' against the tyrant," one resident, who lives in the Manshia neighborhood in the old quarter told Reuters by telephone.
He said security forces were entering homes and dragging men onto buses.
The chants echoed the calls of Iranian protesters who took to rooftops in Tehran chanting 'Allahu Akbar' (God is Greatest) during post-election unrest in 2009.
Foreign correspondents have largely been excluded from Syria since the protests escalated and the crackdown began.
A Syrian rights group said at least 560 civilians have been killed in the six-week-old uprising in support of demands for greater political freedom and action against corruption that has flourished under the Baath Party, in power since 1963.
The uprising, unthinkable only months ago, flared after mass protests toppled authoritarian leaders in Egypt and Tunisia. Demonstrations spread in Bahrain and escalated to civil war in Libya.
