Syrian regime forces killed 11 civilians and wounded 28 others on Monday, after more than 150 people were killed in violence over the weekend, a monitoring group said.
Four civilians were killed in morning shelling of the rebel-held district of Baba Amr, in the central city of Homs, under bombardment for a 24th straight day, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The death toll from the Baba Amr shelling rose to nine later in the day, it said. The Britian-based monitoring group said explosions shook the Homs neighbourhoods of Hamidiyeh, Bustan al-Diwan, and the city centre. Two others were killed when a rocket fired by regime troops hit a car in which they travelled in the village of Talheya, in the northern province of Idlib, the Observatory said. Eight civilians were wounded as troops shelled the town of Sarmeen, also in Idlib, according to the watchdog. And in Rastan, in Homs province, 20 civilians were wounded in a huge blast that was heard across the city, it added. Elsewhere, pro-regime gunmen known as Shabiha chased students staging a sit-in at the University of Aleppo’s faculty of dentistry, the Observatory said. Gunshots were later heard at the university campus where demonstrators were trapped in halls of residence, while 16 were arrested, it added.
In the central Hama province, military forces reportedly stormed the village of Khatab. More than 7,600 people have been killed in violence across Syria since anti-regime protests erupted in March 2011, according to the Observatory.
