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Edition: U.S. Article Comments (0) Slideshow Video Full Focus Editor's choice A selection of our top photos from the past 24 hours. 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Credit: Reuters/ Jamal Saidi By Khaled Yacoub Oweis ANTALYA, Turkey | Thu Jun 2, 2011 11:46am EDT ANTALYA, Turkey (Reuters) - Syrian forces killed at least 13 civilians in the central town of Rastan on Thursday, activists said, in the latest military assault to try and quell a revolt against the 11-year rule of President Bashar al-Assad. Security forces backed by tanks have laid siege to Rastan, a town of 60,000, since Sunday in an effort to crush protests. The 13 civilians were killed by gunfire from snipers and security forces who stormed Rastan's neighborhoods and imposed a curfew, Ammar Qurabi, head of the Syrian Organization for Human Rights, and lawyer Razan Zaitouna told Reuters. On Tuesday, shelling killed 41, including a four-year-old girl, Zaitouna said. At least 200 people have been arrested. Syria has barred most international media, making it difficult to verify accounts of the violence. Qurabi said the number of killings exceeded those activists had documented. "To those who want retribution I say: this is the age of international justice and the killers will be held accountable," he told Reuters on the sidelines of a Syrian opposition meeting in Turkey. He said some residents had occasionally used guns. "There have been rare instances of people who have seen their parents, wives or children being killed, (people) taking their personal weapons and trying to resist. But they were smothered by the overwhelming and unjustifiable force being used by the authorities," Qurabi added. He said his organization had the names of 1,113 civilians killed since anti-Assad protests erupted on March 18. Syria blames the unrest on armed groups backed by Islamists and foreign powers. Assad has sent security forces and tanks to several protest flashpoints, including Deraa, Banias and Tal Kelakh, a border town near Lebanon, and now Rastan. Four soldiers killed by "armed terrorist groups" in Rastan on Wednesday were buried on Thursday, the state news agency said. Activists have reported cases of secret police shooting soldiers for refusing to fire at protesters. While the crackdown on Rastan intensified, authorities began freeing hundreds of political prisoners after Assad issued a general amnesty in response to the unrest, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. A blend of force and reformist gestures has failed to quell a growing movement against Assad's rule. Instead it has provoked international condemnation and sanctions as the civilian death toll, which rights groups say tops 1,000, keeps rising. Rami Abdelrahman, the Observatory's director, said most of those released were protesters from the suburbs of Damascus, the cities of Banias, Homs and Latakia, as well as Deraa in the south and the eastern Hasaka region. "The releases started from Tuesday night and are continuing until today. Dozens are being transported from central detention facilities in Damascus to local detention centers where they are expected to be released shortly," Abdelrahman told Reuters. Rights groups estimate that more than 10,000 people have been arrested since protests erupted in mid-March. "SYSTEMATIC KILLINGS AND TORTURE" Abdelrahman said those freed included Abbas Abbas, a 69-year-old leftist who had already spent 15 years as a political prisoner and was sentenced to seven years in jail earlier this year for "weakening national morale." The amnesty does not seem to have covered teenage girl blogger Tal al-Molouhy, sentenced to five years in jail earlier this year on charges of revealing information to a foreign country, despite U.S. calls to release her, Abdelrahman said. Molouhy had written Internet postings in which she said she longed for a role in shaping the direction of Syria. Along with the amnesty, Assad has launched preparations for a national dialogue, but opposition figures, activists and protesters say this means little while repression continues. Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday witness testimony showed security forces were guilty of "systematic killings and torture" in Deraa. The New York-based group said the actions strongly suggested they qualified as crimes against humanity. LOST LEGITIMACY French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said the amnesty had come too late and that Syrian authorities had to have a "much clearer and more ambitious" change of direction. At first wary of more instability in the region, Western powers have stepped up measures against Assad, imposing sanctions against him and senior figures in his government. Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said on Wednesday he had expanded a list of members of Assad's circle subject to sanctions and called for the Security Council to consider referring the Syrian leader to the International Criminal Court. "When you see such large-scale, directed action by a head of government against his own civilian population, including the murder of a 13-year-old boy and his torture, then the deepest questions arise in the minds of the people of the world as to whether any claims of legitimacy remains," Rudd declared. The death of Hamza al-Khatib, aged 13, who rights groups says was tortured and killed in custody, has drawn outrage from the United States and spurred more protests in Syria. Syrian authorities deny he was tortured, saying he was killed at a demonstration in which armed gangs shot at guards. (Additional reporting by Michael Perry in Sydney and writing by Yara Bayoumy in Beirut; editing by Alistair Lyon) World Turkey Syria Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story directly or with relevant tangential information. We try to block comments that use offensive language, all capital letters or appear to be spam, and we review comments frequently to ensure they meet our standards. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. 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