At Least 73 Dead in Shelling and Clashes across Syria

At least 73 people were killed in shelling and clashes across Syria on Tuesday, 61 of whom were civilians and rebels and 12 regime soldiers, according to the opposition Local Coordination Committees and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Regime forces rained shells on rebel positions in the northwestern Latakia province, pounding the town of al-Haffe for the eighth straight day as they appeared to be preparing to storm it, monitors said.

The Observatory said troops also shelled rebel bastions in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, the northern province of Aleppo and several parts of the central province of Homs.

It said 13 civilians, including a young girl, were killed when troops pounded a neighborhood of the city of Deir Ezzor.

Regime forces also pounded Hreitan in the northern province of Aleppo while soldiers clashed with armed rebels at the entrance to the town, leading to "heavy losses among regime troops," activists said.

The shelling "destroyed a large number of houses... and forced residents to flee," said the Local Coordination Committees, which spearheads protests against the regime.

According to the Observatory, troops used heavy artillery and helicopter gunships in their attacks on al-Haffe, where activists feared a massacre would be committed if regime troops managed to enter the restive town.

At least 120 people have died in fighting in al-Haffe over the past week, including 68 troops, 29 civilians and 23 rebels, with hundreds wounded, the Observatory's Rami Abdel Rahman told Agence France Presse.

Troops also stepped up attacks on the central city of Homs and its suburbs, pounding rebel positions, the Observatory said.

"The situation is horrific, murderous," an activist in Homs who identified himself as Abu Bilal told AFP via Skype.

Abu Bilal said 400 civilians -- including women and children -- were trapped in a school in the Jourat al-Shiah neighborhood.

Rebel bastions Talbiseh, Qusayr, Khalidiyeh and Rastan -- in Homs -- were also under heavy attack by regime forces, according to the Observatory.

Three civilians were killed in Talbiseh, another three on the outskirts of Qusayr and three in Jousiyeh during a raid by regime troops.

In Andan, in the suburbs of Aleppo, five civilians were killed when troops "shelled the village arbitrarily," the Observatory said, adding that 12 soldiers were killed in fighting across the country.

The main opposition coalition has accused the regime of escalating attacks across the country in an attempt to wipe out dissent.

The Observatory said nationwide violence cost the lives of at least 111 people on Monday, including 79 civilians.

More than 14,100 people, most of them civilians, have been killed since an anti-regime revolt erupted in March 2011, according to the Observatory.