Syrian security forces raid university in Aleppo, killing at least 4 students (VIDEO)

At least four students were killed by Syrian security forces and armed pro-government men who raided a university in Aleppo on Wednesday, Al Jazeera English reported. 

Local activist Thaer al-Ahmed said on Thursday that forces fired tear gas and live ammunition at around 1,500 student protesters who were calling for an end to President Bashar al-Assad’s rule, the Associated Press reported. 

Several other students were injured in the clashes, and around 200 students were arrested by the security forces, the Los Angeles Times reported. 

"Some students ran to their rooms to take cover but they were followed to their rooms, beaten up and arrested," al Ahmed told the AP. "Others suffered cuts and broken bones as they tried to flee."

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The Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC) and British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed both the raid and casualties, Al Jazeera reported.

"Regime forces demanded through loudspeakers that the dorms be evacuated, then began detaining the students," the LCC said in a statement.

The raids raids continued until early morning on Thursday, Al Jazeera reported, and students reporting hearing intermittent gunfire. The University of Aleppo announced it was suspending all classes until after final exams on May 13 in the wake of the deadly incident.

Here is raw footage from the university unrest:

Responding to the incident, White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Thursday, "If the regime's intransigence continues the international community is going to have to admit defeat and work to address the serious threat to peace and stability being perpetrated by the Assad regime," according to CBS News.

Carney said that the US and nations would try other measures to put pressure on Assad if the Syrian regime kept flouting the cease-fire, including a return to the UN Security Council.

Despite Aleppo's large population of Assad loyalists — which has spared the city from much of the violence plaguing Syria — the university has been the city's hub of vocal dissent in the nationwide uprising against the President's regime, the AP reported. 

The head of the UN observer mission, Norwegian Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, visited the central Syrian cities of Homs and Hama on Thursday, sites of extreme anti-regime sentiment, the AP reported.  

Mood said that there was still "a good chance and an opportunity" to break the cycle of violence, despite the persistent bloodshed that has tainted international efforts to implement a cease-fire in the country, according to the AP. 

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Here is a video report, courtesy of Reuters, showing the burning interior of the university: