84 Dead, 200 Arrested as Violence Rages across Syria

Clashes between government troops and army deserters raged on Sunday across Syria, where at least 84 people were killed and more than 200 arrested, activists and monitors said.

The weekend escalation in violence came ahead of a U.N. deadline of Tuesday for regime forces to cease fire, prompting harsh words from international envoy Kofi Annan who said the escalation was "unacceptable."

The Local Coordination Committees, the main activist group spurring protests on the ground, said security forces killed 59 people across the country, among them six children.

Twenty-four people were killed in Idlib, 13 in Hama, 12 in Homs, five in the Damascus suburb of Beit Jinn, two in Daraa, two in Deir Ezzor and one in Aleppo, the LCC reported.

For its part, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said five deserters were killed in clashes with government troops in Beit Jinn as army helicopters flew overhead and loud blasts rang out.

The Britain-based monitoring group said two other deserters were killed in the northwestern province of Idlib and in Aleppo in the north, while 17 regime soldiers died in other fighting across the country.

In the Idlib region, regime forces, backed by helicopters, carried out a large-scale operation east of the town of Jisr al-Shughour, said the Observatory.

A civilian was shot dead near the Lebanese border, while another two died in the central province of Homs and one was killed by gunfire as troops raided the southern Daraa province looking for suspects, it reported.

According to the monitoring group, 200 people were arrested across Syria by regime forces as they pressed on with a bloody campaign to crush dissent.

Raids were carried out in the Idlib region of Kafar Nubul, where regime forces, under cover of intense fire, arrested dozens after government troops clashed with fighters of the rebel Free Syrian Army, activists said.

Clashes also broke out between deserters and security forces on Saturday night in the Damascus neighborhood of Barzeh.

"Security forces stormed Barzeh under cover of darkness, searched homes and arrested several people," activist Dib al-Dimashqi told Agence France Presse via Skype.

Security forces also deployed in the central Hama province town of Murk where they "torched houses and cars and arrested several people," said another activist, Abu Ghazi al-Hamwi.

Fourteen people were also arrested in the eastern oil province of Deir Ezzor, activists said.

According to the Observatory, violence on Saturday killed 128 people across Syria, including 86 civilians, half of them in the town of Latamna near Murk.