In Syria, at least nine people were killed after security forces backed by tanks attacked several towns in the central part of the country. Rights activists and witnesses said tanks fired heavy machine guns in the towns of Rastan, Talbiseh and Teir Maaleh on Sunday after authorities sealed them off. They said more than 100 people were wounded in the assaults, all in central Homs province as the crackdown on a two-month old anti-government uprising continued. All three towns have mounted large protests in recent days. In Rastan, thousands of residents demonstrated on Friday demanding immediate end to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's 11-year authoritarian rule. The protest was one of the largest in the region since the anti-government uprising broke out in southern Syria on March 18.