Syrian troops arrest hundreds in village under siege (VIDEO)

Syrian troops have rounded up hundreds of people in villages near Jisr al-Shughour five days after President Bashar al-Assad’s forces began a retribution attack on the town where 120 soldiers and police were reportedly killed.

The military siege has caused close to 7,000 refugees to flee into neighboring Turkey. They are now living in four tent cities set up in the province of Hatay, state-run Anatolia news agency reported, according to Bloomberg.

The White House on Monday condemned violence in Syria and renewed its calls on Assad to lead a political transition or leave power, after a brutal crackdown on a rebel town.

"We have called on President Assad to cease the violence. We strongly condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the violence being perpetrated in Syria," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters aboard Air Force One, Agence France-Presse reports.

"President Assad needs to engage in political dialogue. A transition needs to take place. If President Assad does not lead that transition then he should step aside." 

Britain and France, meantime, have put forward a motion in the U.N. Security Council to condemn Syria’s crackdown against protesters. The measure is backed by the U.S. and opposed by Russia, which has veto power.

The offensive, according to The New York Times, "signals that the regime has given up even pretending to consider reforms in response to months of antigovernment protests."

The military unit believed to be leading the crackdown is reportedly led by Assad's brother, Maher.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the "barbarity" of the crackdown: "After all that has happened, Turkey can no longer defend Syria,” Erdogan said on TV, according to The Washington Post.

According to human rights activists, more than 1,400 Syrians have died and some 10,000 have been detained in the government crackdown since mid-March, CBC reports.

"I am deeply concerned about the violence over the past few months in Syria, which has reportedly killed 1,200 people and caused over 10,000 to flee the country," UN emergency relief coordinator Valerie Amos said in a statement Monday, Bloomberg reports. "I call on the government to respect and protect civilians, and to refrain from the use of force against peaceful demonstrators."