Fifteen dead after Syrian army clashes with rebels

Fifteen dead after Syrian army clashes with rebels

BEIRUT (Reuters) - At least 15 people died in fierce fighting between security forces and army rebels in northern Syria early on Saturday, activists said, as violence intensified in the eighth month of unrest against President Bashar al-Assad.

Opposition groups say rebel forces are increasing their attacks on security forces loyal to the government, which is trying to suppress the revolt against 41 years of Assad family rule.

Syria faces deepening international and regional isolation, with the Arab League, the European Union and the United States piling on increasingly tough sanctions to pressure Damascus to stop the bloodshed and talk to its opponents.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the fighting broke out around midnight in the northern city of Idlib, near the Turkish border.

"Seven were killed from the army and regime security forces, including an army officer," the group said. "Three civilians and five defectors were also killed."

The United Nations' top human rights forum has condemned Syria for "gross and systematic" violations by its forces, including executions and the imprisonment of some 14,000 people.

Syrian authorities say they are fighting foreign-backed "terrorist groups" trying to spark civil war who have killed some 1,100 soldiers and police since March.

More than 4,000 people have died since protests broke out in March, according to the United Nations, which says the violence in Syria looks like civil war.

Violence on Saturday spread to the central city of Homs and the southern Deraa province by midday, the British-based human rights group said.

In Homs, a hotbed of armed revolt against the military crackdown on protests, two men were shot dead, one by a sniper, the organization said.

The group said security forces were also conducting raids in rural Deraa province, cradle of the anti-Assad movement. It said one civilian was killed and five were wounded during morning raids in the town of Tafas.

 Fifteen dead after Syrian army clashes with rebels