UN Ceasefire in Syria enters second month violence unabated kills 23
UN Ceasefire in Syria enters second month violence unabated kills 23
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The fresh wave of bloodletting came as the UN mission in Syria said it now has 189 military observers on the ground, nearly two-thirds of its planned strength of 300. The observers are tasked with shoring up a ceasefire brokered by UN-Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan that was supposed to take effect on April 12 but which has been broken daily by both sides to the conflict.
Two
civilians and five soldiers died in gunfights between regime forces and
armed rebels in the southern province of Daraa, the Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights reported.
Clashes
broke out in front of a military intelligence office and a recruitment
centre in the Daraa village of Nawa and at a checkpoint in the town of
Hara, it added.
In
central Hama province, five people were killed by gunfire, including a
woman, when regime forces raided the village of Al-Tamanaa Al-Ghab, the
Britain-based watchdog said, adding that 18 people were wounded and
several houses set on fire.
A
man and his son were killed and 10 other people wounded when they were
shot by regime forces in the town of Qusayr in central Homs province,
where armed rebel groups have strongholds, the watchdog added.
Also in Homs, a civilian was killed by sniper fire in the town of Rastan.
Outside
Damascus, a civilian was shot dead by regime forces at a checkpoint in
Dmeir, while another two were killed by regime forces in the capital's
northern suburb of Douma, according to the Observatory.
A
rebel commander, Abu Adi, was killed in overnight clashes with regime
forces in Douma, while an officer who deserted the army died in a dawn
ambush in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor.
Regime
forces killed two more civilians in northwest Idlib province and
another in the town of Anadan in northern Aleppo province.
The
Local Coordination Committees (LCC), a coalition of opposition
activists on the ground, said the Syrian army shelled Douma early on
Sunday and that heavy gunfire was also heard in the suburb.
On
Saturday, 22 people were killed, including 11 civilians, two deserters
and nine regime troops, of whom seven were killed during fighting in
Idlib province.
