Amman -- Syrian forces have entered the southern town of Tafas near the city of Deraa in the Hauran Plain, residents said. At least eight tanks moved into the town of about 30,000 people around 6 a.m. (0300 GMT) on Sunday. Residents said they heard gunfire and that army and security forces broke into houses to arrest youths. Thousands of villagers from Hauran converged on Tafas on Friday and chanted slogans demanding the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad. Villagers, prevented from entering the nearby city of Deraa, the cradle of the uprising and which remains encircled by tanks, flocked to Tafas, 12km (8 miles), to the northwest. International criticism has mounted against Assad, who has gone on the offensive to maintain his family's four-decade grip on power and crush demonstrators demanding freedom. Rights campaigners say the crackdown has killed more than 580 people.
