Opposition activists in Syria say government troops have deployed in flashpoint areas across the country to prevent protests marking the 30th anniversary of a massacre in the central province of Hama.

Reports say security forces made numerous arrests and reinforced their presence in Hama, where 10,000 to 40,000 people were killed in a monthlong crackdown that began on February 2, 1982.

A general strike was called in Hama for February 2 to remember the bloody crackdown against an Islamist uprising that challenged the rule of then-president Hafez al-Assad, father of current President Bashar al-Assad.

Demonstrations were also organized elsewhere in Syria to mark the anniversary of the 1982 purge and to protest the government’s current crackdown on Arab Spring-style uprisings, which is estimated to have killed more than 6,000 people.

Compiled from agency reports

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