The Syrian government under PresidentBashar-Al-Assapressed on with a crackdown on anti-regime dissent yesterday, dispatching troop reinforcements to the flashpoint province of Homs and security forces near Damascus, activists said.

“Military reinforcements were sent to Rastan, deploying around the building housing military security, and others to Qusseir,” a town on the border with Lebanon, they said.

The Syrian army had strengthened its presence in Qusseir on Saturday and previous days after many civilians tried to escape the violence.

The deployments come a day after activists reported that security forces had killed 12 civilians in Qusseir, in the central province of Homs, and one more in Hama, further north. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights which carried the toll said that the 12 civilians were killed in Qusseir during raids for people wanted by the authorities.

The office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva has said the death toll from the crackdown on dissent since March 15 has risen to more than 2,700.

Also yesterday, security forces were dispatched in large numbers to the restive suburb of Douma, northeast of Damascus, activists said.

And 10 students, including a girl, were arrested yesterday by security forces in Dael, a city in Daraa province, birthplace of the anti-regime protests.

“The fate of students is unknown,” the Observatory said.

Syria has been gripped by almost daily anti-regime protests since March 15.