SYRIAN TANKS ROLLED into a Mediterranean coastal town today in an escalating crackdown by President Bashar Assad, just a day after clashes with anti-government protesters left at least 30 dead nationwide, activists said.

Details of the troop deployment in Baniyas, which has seen weeks of demonstrations demanding regime change, were scarce as communication and phone lines with the town and the surrounding area were cut off.

But activists in touch with townspeople said soldiers on tanks rolled into Baniyas before dawn. The activists spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. The deployment came just hours after Friday’s clashes with anti-government protesters killed 30 people across the country, according to a leading Syrian rights activist.

The move raises fears of a large-scale military operation in Baniyas, similar to the one carried out in the flashpoint southern city of Daraa.

Daraa, near the Jordanian border, has been under siege since April 25, when Syrian authorities cut off electricity and phone lines and deployed tanks and snipers to crush dissent there.

The army announced the end to an 11-day military operation on Thursday, but residents have since said troops still remain in the streets. About 50 people have been reported killed in Daraa over the past 10 days.

The UN said today that it is sending a team into Syria to investigate the situation, and the European Union is expected to place sanctions on Syrian officials next week. Both actions are significant blows to Assad, a British-educated, self-styled reformer who has tried to bring Syria back into the global mainstream over his 11 years in power.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the US was pressing the Syrian government to cease “violence against innocent citizens who are simply demonstrating and trying to state their aspirations for a more democratic future.”

Friday’s protests spanned the nation of 23 million, from the capital to the Mediterranean coast and the arid northeast.

Rallies were held in major areas including the capital, Damascus, and its suburbs, Baniyas on the coast and Qamishli in the northeast.

A prominent human rights activist told the AP that 30 people were killed yesterday, all of them protesters. The toll included 15 people in Homs, six in Hama, five in the seaside city of Latakia and one in Deir El-Zour. The activist spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing for his own security.

The bloodshed was the latest spasm in what has become a weekly cycle of mass protests followed by a swift and deadly crackdown.

But pressure was mounting on Assad, who insists the unrest is a foreign conspiracy carried out by “terrorist groups.” More than 580 civilians and 100 soldiers have been killed since the revolt began, rights groups say.

- AP