Syrian rights activists say government security forces have killed six people while storming areas around the country in a renewed crackdown on political dissent.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Monday said the worst violence was in Sarameen in the northern province of Idlib. The group said security forces killed five people there and wounded at least 60 as they opened fire during search and arrest operations.

Security forces killed another person during an arrest raid in Qara, a suburb of the capital, Damascus. Rights groups reported similar raids in the village of Heet, near the border with Lebanon.

They also said troops have surrounded the central Syrian town of Rastan, the site of several protests against President Bashar al-Assad during a 5-month uprising. Rastan is about 20 kilometers north of Homs on a highway that connects to the flashpoint city of Hama.

The operations come a day after Syria rejected an Arab League statement calling for an end to the deadly violence that has shaken the country. The 22-member Arab organization – of which Syria is a member – urged the government on Sunday to stop the bloodshed “before it is too late.”

The United Nations says more than 2,200 people have been killed since March, when protesters began calling for reforms and an end to Mr. Assad's 11-year autocratic rule.

The Syrian government has blamed the violence on what it calls armed gangs and terrorists backed by foreign conspirators.