The rights group and activists at the scene said army deserters pulled out of Rankus as troops moved in.- File Photo

NICOSIA: The opposition Syrian National Council warned on Monday of a possible “massacre” of hundreds of young men rounded up by security forces in a town near Damascus.

It voiced “fears over a possible liquidation of hundreds of young men that Syrian security services have gathered in a public square in Rankus,” 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of the capital, in a statement received in Nicosia.

The SNC called for the Arab and international media “to act quickly to follow this issue.”Security forces “raided Rankus this morning, backed by tanks and rocket-launchers ... and launched a campaign of arrests,” it said.

“The authorities have cut off electricity, telephone lines and water. They have imposed a siege on Rankus, preventing food and medical aid from entering”the town of 25,000 inhabitants.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said earlier that troops penetrated Rankus after shelling the town which had been encircled for six days.

The rights group and activists at the scene said army deserters pulled out of Rankus as troops moved in. The assault reportedly cost the lives of two deserters and left dozens of civilians wounded.