ALEPPO, Syria
At least 64 people, including three women and three children, have been killed in air and ground operations allegedly carried out across Syria by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, according to opposition activists.
The London-based Syrian Network for Human Rights, which tracks civilian and opposition casualties, said the regime’s air and land operations Sunday killed 18 people in Hama, another 18 in the suburbs of capital Damascus, 15 in Daraa, 10 in Aleppo, two in Idlib, and one in Homs.
Also, the Syrian Local Coordination Committee said that fierce clashes took place between members of the Free Syrian Army and regime forces.
The Syrian government's official news agency, SANA, claimed that Syrian troops "neutralized" a large number of armed groups in Hama, Aleppo, Idlib, and Daraa.
Syria has been gripped by fighting since the regime launched a violent crackdown in response to anti-government protests in March, 2011, triggering a conflict that has spiraled into a civil war.
The UN has stopped updating its death toll for the country because an official count had become too difficult to verify. At least 100,000 deaths were recorded in the last official count in July 2013.
www.aa.com.tr/en
