The embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad yesterday pressed on with a deadly crackdown on dissent even as a flood of fresh sanctions further isolated Damascus.

Activists said 12 civilians were killed by Syrian forces in the flashpoint provinces of Idlib and Homs, while in the southern Daraa province, cradle of eight months of anti-regime unrest, a blast killed seven security forces.

The latest violence came as the world’s largest Islamic body, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, urged Syria to cooperate with the Arab League and allow a team of observers to visit the country.

The League imposed sanctions on the Damascus regime on Sunday after it defied an ultimatum to accept observers under a plan to halt the crackdown which the UN says has killed more than 3,500 people since mid-March.

After emergency talks on Syria, a statement by the OIC urged Damascus to “immediately stop using excessive force against civilians” and to “respond to the decisions of the Arab League”.

Speaking after the meeting OIC chief Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said the group “urged Syria to stop violating human rights and to allow Islamic and international human organisations access to Syria”.