'Catastrophic' situation in Syria

Using horses and mules to carry their possessions, Syrians crossed a shallow river yesterday to reach safety in Lebanon with tales of a "catastrophic" scene back home: sectarian killings, gunmen carrying out execution-style slayings and the stench of decomposing bodies in the streets.

The accounts are bound together by a sense of growing desperation as President Bashar Assad's regime expands its crackdown on an uprising that has entered a third month with no sign of letting up.

At least 16 people, eight of them members of the same family, have been killed in recent days in Talkalakh, a town of about 70,000 residents that has been under siege since Thursday, witnesses and activists say.

The deaths boost an already staggering toll, with more than 850 people killed nationwide since mid-March, according to the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria.

"The situation in the city is catastrophic," said a 55-year-old Syrian who would give only his first name, Ahmad. He crossed into Lebanon before dawn yesterday. "If you walk in the streets of Talkalakh you can smell the dead bodies."

Residents interviewed by The Associated Press yesterday as they crossed into Lebanon said their town, which has held weekly anti-government rallies, came under attack by the army, security forces and shadowy, pro-regime gunmen known as "shabiha."

Residents recognized the shabiha by their black clothes and red armbands -- apparently worn so they can recognize each other in the confusion of an attack.

Four residents independently told the AP that shabiha gunmen killed a man named Adnan al-Kurdi along with his wife, five daughters and a son in their home -- a harrowing story that could not be independently verified. None of those interviewed knew why the family was killed. But they said the killings motivated them to leave.