Watchdog: at least 35 killed in latest Syria violence

PanARMENIAN.Net - Syrian forces pounded Aleppo and Deir Ezzor provinces as at least 35 people were killed on Sunday, July 8, across the country, among them 17 civilians, a watchdog said.

The regime forces, under the cover of heavy shelling, attempted to storm the rebel strongholds of Qusayr and Rastan in the central province of Homs, triggering fierce clashes, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"Fierce clashes took place before dawn between regime forces and rebels in the vicinity of Qusayr, accompanied by heavy shelling on Qusayr and neighboring villages as the regime tried to regain control," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.

In Rastan, "the army carried out shelling in an attempt to storm the city and clashed with fighters from the rebel combat battalions, forcing the government troops to retreat," he said, AFP reported.

Both towns are strongholds of the rebel Free Syrian Army.