Syrian Forces Kill 15 amid Clashes with Defectors in Idlib
Syrian security forces on Wednesday killed thirteen people across the country, “including two army deserters, two women and a man who died under torture,” activists said.
Nine people were killed in the central opposition bastion Homs, two in the restive countryside around Damascus, one in the northwestern province of Idlib and another in the northern province of Aleppo, the Local Coordination Committees, the main activist group spurring protests on ground, said.
Meanwhile, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security forces and pro-regime militias killed two civilians in Idlib province, adding that a soldier died during clashes with army defectors in the same region.
The United Nations says that 5,400 people have been killed by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime since protests erupted in March.
Damascus routinely blames the violence in Syria on "armed groups" and "terrorists" backed by foreign powers pursuing an agenda of regime change.
Source: Agence France Presse, Naharnet
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