Syrian forces killed at least 30 civilians in tank assaults on Tuesday in the countryside around the city of Hama and on a town near Turkey, the Syrian National Organisation for Human Rights said.

The Organisation, headed by dissident Ammar Qurabi, said in a statement that 26 people were killed and dozens wounded when troops backed by tanks and armoured vehicles overran Soran and other villages north of Hama, the focus of a 10-day assault to crush street protests against Assad's autocratic rule.

Four people were also killed in Binnish, around 30 km (19 miles) from the border with Turkey, in a similar attack on the town that has witnessed an escalation in protests demanding the removal of Assad during the fasting month of Ramadan, the organisation said.