23 Syrian soldiers left dead due to clashes with armed rebels says British NGO

Fierce clashes between Syrian regime forces and armed rebels in the central city of Rastan on Monday left at least 23 soldiers dead and dozens wounded, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The Britain-based monitoring group said initial reports indicated that three troop carriers were destroyed in the clashes that began at dawn on the outskirts of the rebel-held city, located in Homs province. A lieutenant who had
defected was also killed in the clashes.

Regime forces launched an offensive on Rastan at the weekend but met with sharp resistance from rebels seeking the ouster of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. The Observatory said dozens had been wounded in shelling of the
city by Syrian troops. The bombardment by regime forces resumed following the deadly clashes, it added.

In Quraya in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, a 15-year-old boy was killed by machinegun fire as regime forces raided the town, the Observatory said, bringing the total number of people killed on Monday to 25.

The watchdog added that 15 residents of the city were arrested. And in the capital Damascus, regime forces raided the neighbourhood of Qaboon, while snipers were stationed on the roofs of some buildings.

The watchdog said 45 people — 25 civilians, 15 soldiers and five rebels — were killed in a surge of violence in various flashpoints on Sunday, despite a ceasefire brokered by UN-Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan that was supposed
to take effect on April 12.

Among the dead were a Shiite imam, Sheikh Abbas al-Laham, who leads the prayers in the Ruqayya mosque in Damascus, a revered place of pilgrimage for many religious Iranians. The cleric was assassinated by unidentified gunmen in
Damascus, the Observatory said.

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Posted by Hamza Jahangir on May 14 2012. Filed under World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry