Syrian tanks stormed a town in a province near the Turkish border on Tuesday and expanded an offensive on a key eastern city, witnesses said, as President Bashar al-Assad faced pressure from Ankara to stop military attacks to crush a five month uprising against his rule.

Armoured vehicles entered the town of Binnish, 15 km (9 miles) west of the main northern highway, at dawn, they said. An armoured column also pushed into the centre of the city of Deir al-Zor on the third day of an offensive on the provincial capital of an oil producing region bordering Iraq's Sunni heartland.