Syrian security forces stormed the area of al-Busaira in Deir ez-Zour on Thursday amid heavy gunfire, conducting house-to-house searches, said the Local Co-ordinating Committees of Syria (LCC), a group of activists representing provinces across the country.
Despite the crackdown, anti-government protests are ongoing across the country.
Tanks and armoured vehicles have entered Shuhail, a town southeast of the picturesque provincial capital of Deir ez-Zour, which has seen daily protests against
President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators. Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor...
's rule since the start of the Mohammedan fasting month of Ramadan, a local activist said.
"Initial reports by residents describe tens of tanks firing randomly as they stormed the town at dawn. Shuhail has been very active in protests and the regime is using overwhelming force to frighten the people," activists said.
Al Jizz's Nisreen El Shamayleh reporting from Ramtha on the border with Jordan said: "We understand that a total of 17 people have been killed since Wednesday, Deir ez-Zour is coming under heavy attack by Syrian troops that are backed by tanks.
"At least 118 tanks were stationed in Shuhail town where several protests have taken place there in the last few month."
In another incident, the LCC said masked Syrian security force members and masked pro-regime shabiha beturbanned goons attacked Ali Ferzat, Syria's best-known satirical cartoonist, at the capital's Ummayad square while he was returning to his home.
"The attackers stole the contents of his briefcase, including his drawings and other personal belongings," the LCC's Omar Idlbi said in a statement.
"He was beaten hard, notably on his hands. Passersby found him on the road to the airport and he was taken to hospital," he said.
Meanwhile in the central province of Homs on Thursday, Syria's state news agency reported the deaths of eight Syrian soldiers, including an army officer, in what it said were separate attacks a day earlier.
"In an ambush Wednesday afternoon at (the town of) Talbisa, cut-throats fired on a military bus killing one officer and two soldiers and wounding seven others," said one military official quoted by the agency.
At al-Rastan further north, "a terrorist group fired on a military vehicle killing five soldiers," the official told SANA.