Crackdown begins in northern Syrian town

The syrian government is saying that residents of the town requested the army's presence Jisr al-Shughour, Syria - Arabstoday The Syrian army has begun operations to "restore security" to the town of Jisr al-Shughour and the surrounding area, state TV says.  Earlier in the week, the Syrian government said 120 security personnel were

 killed in the north-western town.
The announcement, and the positioning of troops in the area, has prompted a flow of refugees to nearby Turkey. Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Syria was committing an "atrocity", in remarks quoted by Turkish media. Turkey says more than 2,000 Syrians have crossed the border seeking refuge from the anticipated crackdown in Jisr al-Shughour.
Syria's government has blamed the deaths in the town on armed groups, but there are reports of a mutiny among security forces. Syrian state TV said armed men were in control of the town and had prepared defences.
Conflicting accounts
Activists said the security forces were shot by government troops, after they refused to open fire on civilians.
The alleged killings cannot be independently verified.
But Al Jazeera said casualty figures had risen in the area "not only because of battles between protesters and security forces but because of a split within the military itself in Syria where we understand the Mukhabaraat (secret police) wanted to fire at protesters, but certain members of the army were more resistant about doing so, and that may have contributed to the high death toll".
Syria has prevented foreign journalists, including those from the BBC, from entering the country, making it difficult to verify reports from there.  The BBC's correspondent in Beirut, Lebanon, says the events in Jisr al-Shughour present a massive challenge to President Asad.
Syrian state TV has been preparing the way for the security operation in the town by widely broadcasting the movement of troops in the area, prompting many residents to flee. 
'Smokescreen'
Al Jazeera's correspondent said the military operation had been building for sometime.
"They [State TV] are also saying that armed gangs are burning the fields around Jisr al-Shugur. Whoever is doing it, that will provide a smokescreen for whatever is going to happen inside, but there is no question that the crackdown that the Syrian government is planning is going to be immense.
"We have had reports from inside Syria about tanks moving there... some of the villages have nearly emptied of population, people are bracing themselves for some sort of conflict. People have erected barricades where they can. The Syrian military, of course, is very well equipped, very well armed, so some kind of showdown is imminent in this area," she said.
The action against Jisr al-Shughour is in response to claims by Damascus that armed gangs killed 120 members of the security forces there after protests against President Asad's rule.State TV has been broadcasting images of what it says are soldiers and police shot dead in the town.
The government says local residents requested the army's intervention to restore peace and quiet. But dissenting accounts say the violence was sparked by deserting soldiers, and that loyal troops have massacred peaceful civilians.
Human rights groups say more than 1,100 people have been killed since protests against President Asad began in March, and it now appears several hundred security forces may also have died.
Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan has previously been reluctant to criticise Syria, but in an interview quoted by Anatolia news agency he said the Asad regime was committing an "atrocity" against anti-government demonstrators.
"They are not acting in a humane manner. This is savagery," he said in a TV interview on Thursday.
The unrest in Syria has prompted a split within the UN Security Council, where France and Britain have proposed a resolution to condemn the government's actions.  But other nations on the council, including Brazil, China and Russia, say such a resolution - which does not propose concrete action - could further inflame tensions in an already volatile region.  The UN human rights chief, Navi Pillay, and the Pope have urged Damascus to show restraint, with Ms Pillay strongly condemning the Syrian government. The Syrian army has moved against other cities that have seen anti-government protests, including Deraa in the south, Baniyas, Rastan, Latakia, Homs, Hama and some Damascus suburbs.
Anti-government activists have promised to mount widespread protests after Friday prayers.
One Facebook page was billing it a "Day of Tribes", in an attempt to draw in more of Syria's powerful tribes to the protests, says our correspondent in Beirut. Another activist website is saying that over 50 protests were planned for all across Syria today.

'Dodging soldiers'
 The Red Crescent has set up a tent city to house Syrian refugees in the town of Yayladagi and there are plans to set up a second camp in Altinozu.  A Turkish official told the BBC the influx of Syrians was sharply increasing and the latest arrivals included several dozen wounded people.  Most of the refugees were too frightened to speak to the BBC's Owen Bennett-Jones, who is in Yayladagi. But one man, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he had made a three-hour trek from Jisr al-Shughour, dodging Syrian soldiers along the way.
He said an estimated 30,000 Syrian soldiers were massing near the town - but added that hundreds of soldiers had also deserted and were also gathering on the border hoping to make an escape into Turkey.
A Syrian government spokeswoman said there were no refugees fleeing to Turkey, just the normal traffic of people visiting relatives across the border.