At least 23 Syrian security forces killed in latest clashes

PanARMENIAN.Net - At least 23 members of Syria's security forces and 15 deserters have been killed in clashes, mainly in the flashpoint province of Homs, where 13 civilians also died, activists said.

"Eleven soldiers and members of the security forces were killed in skirmishes" with deserters in the town of Huleh, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The rights group said security forces killed at least 12 civilians around the province in central Syria, including three in the Bayyada area of the city of Homs.

The Britain-based Observatory also said 15 deserters were killed in the city of Rastan, also in Homs, when they clashed with soldiers who raked them with heavy machine-gun fire. It said five soldiers meanwhile were killed in an ambush in the central province of Hama.

In another attack, seven military pilots were killed when gunmen ambushed their bus in the center of the country. The attack, carried out by "armed Bedouins", took place near the city of Palmyra, said an opposition member based in Homs, and was claimed by the rebel Free Syrian Army.

In a statement the FSA said "a brigade carried out the attack on a bus transporting pilots on the road between Palmyra and Homs, killing seven officers and the driver." The FSA, whose leadership is based in neighboring Turkey, has claimed several attacks in recent weeks against the Syrian military and pro-regime militias, AFP reported.