Syrian Army Pounds Aleppo, At Least 19 Killed

Regime forces bombarded a string of towns in Aleppo province on Saturday, as at least 19 people were killed in violence across Syria, monitors said.

"Regime forces are attempting to regain control over this (Aleppo) region, where they suffered heavy casualties over the past months to rebels," the the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that the bombardment killed a civilian and wounded dozens in the town of Qabtan al-Jabal.

"A large number of families have been displaced from the area for fear of shelling and lack of water, electricity and medical services," the watchdog added of the attacks in the Northern Province.

Two rebels and five soldiers were killed near the town of Andan in clashes and an attack on an army vehicle.

Districts of the central city of Homs, under army bombardment for more than a month, were also being shelled on Saturday.

The Syrian General Revolutionary Authority said the shelling intensified through the night in the Old Homs neighborhood and Hamidiyeh, where "many people were buried under the rubble" of a collapsed building.

Elsewhere in central Syria, three people were killed in a Hama village in indiscriminate shooting by regime forces, the Britain-based Observatory reported.

In Damascus, regime forces clashed with rebels and stormed the neighborhood of Barzeh, attempting to break a strike, while a taxi driver was shot dead in the same area.

The Local Coordination Committees, made up of anti-regime activists on the ground, reported general strikes in areas in and around the capital to honour those killed in the anti-regime uprising.

It said that "strikes in the souks of Medhat Pasha, Hareeqa and Hamidiyeh" were put down by regime troops who "broke the locks of the shops to force the owners to end the strike."

Outside the capital, the Observatory reported one person killed in Tadamun by regime forces, who renewed shelling on the Damascus suburbs of Sayyida Zeinab and Harasta.

One person was killed in the eastern city of Deir al-Zour by gunfire, while two more civilians were killed in the southern province of Daraa and in northwest Idlib province by regime forces.

The Observatory said 93 people, mostly civilians, were killed across Syria on Friday as protesters took to the streets in several provinces after being urged to call for a "People's liberation war."

Over 16,500 people have been killed since the revolt against the regime of President Bashar Assad broke out in March of last year, according to the Observatory.