http://www.albaidanews.com/news.php?action=view&id=5125
albaidanews-Fierce clashes between Syrian
government forces and opposition
fighters have left at least 23
soldiers killed in the central Syrian
city of Rastan, activists say.
Dozens more were wounded in
Monday's violence, the UK-
based Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights said.
Opposition sources also said the
army had shelled the town, which
they say has been under rebel
control since January. Nine people
were reportedly killed in the
bombardment.
"Shells and rockets have been
hitting the town since 3am (12:00
GMT) at a rate of one a minute.
Rastan has been destroyed," a
member of the opposition Free
Syrian Army in Rastan who
declined to be named told Reuters
news agency by satellite phone.
Al Jazeera's Rula Amin, reporting
from Beirut in neighbouring
Lebanon, said three armoured
vehicles carrying government
troops had been attacked as
they were heading to Rastan, in
Homs province.
"Rastan is a strategic town and a
stronghold of the Free Syrian
Army," she said. "Many defectors
from the army comes from
Rastan."
Syrian authorities say more than
2,500 members of the security
forces have been killed since the
uprising began in March last year.
Opposition activists say more than
9,000 people have been killed.
EU sanctions
Monday's violence further
undermines a UN-backed peace
plan that is supposed to bring an
end to Syria's deadly crisis.
A ceasefire that was supposed to
begin on April 12 has had only a
limited effect, throwing into doubt
the rest of the plan that calls for
talks between President Bashar
al-Assad's government and those
seeking to end his rule.
Part of the plan includes the
deployment in flashpoint areas of
around 300 UN military observers.
By Sunday,189 observers were on
the ground, and several more
arrived on Monday.
In the latest effort to isolate
Syria internationally, European
Union foreign ministers agreed
fresh sanctions against the
country on Monday, the 15th
round so far to protest against
the repression of dissidents.
An EU statement issued at a
meeting of ministers said they
adopted "sanctions against the
Syrian regime" but gave no
details.
An EU diplomat confirmed,
however, that the ministers
agreed to impose an assets
freeze and visa ban on two firms
and three people believed to
provide funding for the regime.
Syria-linked violence has spilled
across the border into Lebanon,
with five people killed since
Saturday during clashes in the
northern port city of Tripoli,
according to officials.
Gunbattles erupted on Saturday
between residents loyal to Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad and
those supportive of the Syrian
opposition.
Fighting flared in Tripoli again on
Monday, leaving two people dead
and nine wounded, a security
official told the AFP news agency.
Syrian troops 'killed' in Rastan clashes - البيضـــاء نيـــوز
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