Troops and tanks have moved into the Syrian city of Baniyas after renewed anti-government demonstrations resulted in the death of six more protesters on Saturday 7 May.

Demonstrators in Baniyas claim that at least six activists have been killed by security forces during protests in the northwestern city. Activists took to the streets to call for the release of people recently arrested during the protests.

Four of the six killed in the Baniyas unrest were women, according to local reports.

In addition to the unrest in Baniyas, at least 26 protesters were reportedly killed in Homs, Hama and other Syrian cities on Friday 6 May.

At least 580 people are reported to have been killed in anti-regime protests in Syria since the middle of March, according to human rights groups.

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad assumed power in 2000 after his father had ruled the country for three decades.