Damascus: At least 25 people including 18 civilians were killed by Syrian regime forces after storming several opposition strongholds throughout the country, media reported on Sunday.
According to reports the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that army forces bombarded on rebel strongholds Douma and Rastan and an assault on al-Tamanaa Al-Ghab village in Hama province, a hotbed of opposition to President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, killed five civilians, wounded 18 and saw houses torched.
“Clashes between troops and deserters in the southern province of Daraa, meanwhile, saw five soldiers killed,” it said adding that two civilians died in the crossfire.
The watchdog said that at least 25 people including 18 civilians, five soldiers and two rebels were killed in a surge of violence in various flashpoints on Sunday, despite a ceasefire brokered by U.N.-Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan that was supposed to take effect on April 12.
The Local Coordination Committees (LCC), a coalition of opposition activists on the ground, said the Syrian army shelled Douma near Damascus on Sunday and that heavy gunfire was also heard in the suburb of the capital.
The LCC also said the town of Rastan in central Homs province also came under heavy bombardment, with one activist reporting “one rocket a minute” slamming into the rebel-hand town.
The violence in Syria has escalated over the past week, despite the arrival of more ceasefire observers.
The U.N. mission in Syria said on Sunday it now has 189 military observers on the ground, nearly two-thirds of its planned strength of 300.
The observers are tasked with shoring up the ceasefire, which has been broken daily by both sides to the conflict.
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