Syrian people 'slaughtered like sheep as they walk the streets'

Death squads are roaming the streets of Syrian city Hama and executing people at random, according to terrified residents.

People holed up inside said residents were being "slaughtered like sheep". One, too afraid to be named, said at least 250 had been killed since Sunday, with the dead being buried in gardens or by the side of the road.

Another said plainclothed men were patrolling the streets and firing at random at anyone they came across.

"People are being slaughtered like sheep while walking in the street," the man said. "I saw one young boy on a motorcycle who was carrying vegetables being run over by a tank."

He said gunmen loyal to President al-Assad, known as "shabiha", or "ghosts" were stopping food supplies entering the city. Aid agencies also said food was growing short. Phone lines, electricity and internet remain cut off. Hama, a city of 800,000, has fallen largely out of regime control since June as residents blockaded the streets.

The government claims it intervened because the city has been taken over by armed militants. Today its assault continued, with shells raining down.

Yesterday US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton claimed the death toll across Syria since the uprising began had now passed 2,000. She said: "We've seen the Assad regime continue and intensify its assault against its own people this week. We think to date the government is responsible for the deaths of more than 2,000 people of all ages."

The US Treasury announced more sanctions against the Syrian authorities. But it fell far short of calls by dissidents and some US senators to target the nation's oil and gas sector. Previous US and EU sanctions have targeted the president, his brother Mahie, and other senior officials.

In 1982 Hama was the scene of a massacre of at least 10,000 people by regime forces following an uprising against the president's father, Hafez.