Syria vows retaliation over 'deadly ambush'

06-07-2011 • http://english.aljazeera.net/

Syrian authorities have threatened to crack down on "armed groups" it says killed 120 members of its security forces in the northwestern town of Jisr al-Shughur.

On Tuesday, an activist in the town told the AP news agency that residents of the were preparing to face the Syrian security forces' operation.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Reem Haddad, Syria's information ministry spokesperson, said "this afternoon 40 security officers were killed, and 80 have died since Friday".

The international media is banned from covering the uprising in Syria, making it nearly impossible to verify the state-controlled media's claims.

In a televised statement on Monday, Mohammed Ibrahim al-Shaar, the Syrian interior minister, said: "The state will act firmly, with force and in line with the law.

"It will not stay arms folded in the face of armed attacks on the security of the homeland."