Thousands of refugees fled Syrian attack in Latakia

As many as 10,000 residents of a Palestinian refugee neighborhood in the Syrian port city of Latakia fled during a four-day assault, the UN reported today, as President Bashar Assad's security forces carried out more arrests and violence in one of Syria’s largest cities, the New York Times reported.

The city of Latakia, on the country’s Mediterranean coast, is the third city to bear the full weight of military and security forces attacks this month. The growing violence has provoked international condemnations that have grown sharper, including Turkey and the U.S., but still stopped short of demanding President Assad step down.

The Turkish government on Tuesday denied that it was imposing a buffer zone on its border with northern Syria. However, officials and military leaders have been drafting plans to deal with Syria's crisis, which shows no signs of abating after more than five months, the Guardian reported.

Ankara, which had been an ally of Assad's regime until a widening gap between the two states became clear a few weeks ago, claimed it had said its "last words" on the Syrian response to the uprising.

The hardening of Turkey's position was followed on Tuesday by an intervention from the US secretary of state, Hilary Clinton, who said the White House was pushing for another round of sanctions against Assad.

The United Nations Council on Human Rights called an emergency meeting in response to the violence in Latakia, where an alleged naval bombardment over the weekend has been followed by a military assault, according to rights groups.

There were even signs of wavering in Syria's last remaining ally, Iran, the Telegraph reported.

An opposition website in Tehran claimed that the Iranian ambassador to Damascus was seeking to pull out, citing an unnamed diplomat who said that embassy staff were concerned about violent retribution for Iran's backing of President Assad if he were toppled.

The flight of thousands of Palestinians on Monday from a refugee camp caused particular outrage across the Arab world. While Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have condemned Syria, other Arab countries have refrained from attacking President Assad, but there are increasing signs that patience is running out.