Syria's southwestern border city Daraa appeared relatively quiet on Monday, 11 months after it came into international spotlight as the starting point of the country's protracted unrest.

Daraa, which has been shown in amateur videos spreading the internet as a turbulent city strewn with burnt vehicles, dead bodies and armed troops, appeared quiet and peaceful, as Xinhua reporters toured the city with escort of the Syrian government.

"No town is out of the government's control," Khaled Hanous, governor of Daraa, told reporters, touting the normalcy and order enjoyed by his citizens while blaming some international TV channels which he said fabricated stories that hindered the city's peace and order.

In mid-March last year, Daraa became the cradle of Syria's turmoil as thousands of angry people took to the street after 15 teenagers were arrested for painting anti-government graffiti on their school walls. It was alleged that the youth were tortured when imprisoned.

The present Daraa governor, who replaced the former one in last April amid the unrest, told Xinhua on Monday that the arrested young people had never been tortured, adding a few media outlets were making up stories as they had interviewed none of the teenagers.

He said normalcy has largely been restored in Daraa and security forces and army troops which entered the city to protect citizens from violence were withdrawn in last May.

During Xinhua reporters' tour of the streets of central and suburban Daraa, they saw no large presence of troops, armored vehicles or tanks.

Only a handful of army posts with fully-armed soldiers on the streets were standing behind sandbag bunkers, while some policemen were guarding the public facilities.

Most shops and restaurants on the streets were open, attracting the strolling people.

One of the main squares in the heart of Daraa, where conflicts among thousands of people took place in late March last year, appeared to be in order with a few vendors selling Arabic snacks and hot drinks.

Anwar, who owned a shop selling electronic products, said he had been keeping his shop open since last May, adding that the block he lived in were peaceful and normal.

However, a sense of gloom and tension was still noticeable. Streets and squares were strangely quiet an hour before noon and the usually fun-chasing Arabs rarely laughed or spoke out loud as usual.

An anonymous young woman in traditional Arab headwear told reporters in the square that "the situation is not good ... We fear to walk on streets, and we need safety and stability to be restored as it was."

When the Xinhua reporters were visiting the city's justice palace, which the government said had been ransomed and set ablaze by "armed terrorists," three teenagers with school bags approached reporters and whispered "we want freedom," and then quickly ran away.

Hanous, the governor of Daraa, confirmed the occasional incidents which he blamed on "armed gangs," saying that "there are masked gunmen on the ground shooting at law-enforcement forces. They hit and run, and rarely confront."

Xinhua reporters also visited a TV and radio station, which, according to its boss, was demolished by "armed groups" after its camera captured militants shooting at civilians.

The two-story building's windows were shattered and walls were blackened, while computers and stationery were scattering on the floor.

Naief al-Obeidat, head of the TV station, said the equipment and his staff had been moved to a government building for security concerns.

During the government-escorted tour in Daraa, which has lasted for several hours, Xinhua reporters neither heard gunshots nor saw any protests.