With Western public opinion startled by the bloodshed that has met Syrians' efforts to emulate other Arabs in casting off autocratic rule, Britain and France asked the UN Security Council to condemn President Bashar al-Assad.

Assad's government has accused armed bands of killing scores of its security men in the northwestern town of Jisr al-Shughour and vowed to send in the army to carry out their "national duty to restore security" there. Troops with tanks have deployed near the town, prompting many of its 50,000 people to flee.

"We are monitoring developments in Syria with concern," said Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who has long sought warm relations with Assad. "Syria should change its attitude toward civilians and should take its attitude to a more tolerant level.

The troop movements, after the government reported the loss of over 120 men in what anti-Assad activists said was fighting among soldiers, has raised fears violence could move to a new level. Rights groups say over 1,100 civilians have been killed since March in protests against 41 years of Assad family rule.

A total of 448 people crossed into Turkey on Wednesday and were being housed in tents, state-run Anatolian news agency reported. Some 100 tents were set up in a camp near the border where 666 people are now receiving food and medical attention.