NICOSIA: A woman died under torture in western Syria and more than 150 people were arrested over the past 24 hours in a Damascus suburb, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Wednesday.

The Britain-based group said that a 28-year-old woman who was arrested a week ago died under torture in the city of Khan Shehoun on Wednesday.

Military and security forces arrested 27 people in the Harasta suburb of Damascus Wednesday morning, after sealing off the district and arresting 120 people the previous day, the Observatory added.

The industrial district, 10 kilometres (six miles) northeast of Damascus, has been the scene of protests since anti-regime protests broke out in mid-March.

Rallies erupted Tuesday night in Douma and Daraya in the southwest, and around the capital in Kanaker, Zabadani, Madaya and Kisweh, witnesses said.

European nations and the United States pressed Wednesday for UN sanctions against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and his entourage for their deadly crackdown on opposition protests.