Oil pipelines attacked in Homs

PanARMENIAN.Net - Syrian troops pounded and raided several rebel bastions across the country and clashes erupted in Homs early on Tuesday, June 19 as two pipelines were attacked in the country's east and north, a watchdog said, according to AFP.

Syrian forces clashed with armed rebels before dawn Tuesday in Homs where a soldier was killed amid "intermittent shelling" of several neighborhoods of the central city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"Clashes took place this morning between regime forces and rebels in the vicinity of the Baba Amr neighborhood which has been under regime control since last March," the Observatory said.

"Columns of black smoke were seen rising from the area," the Britain-based monitoring group said.

The Local Coordination Committees, made up of anti-regime activists on the ground, reported that regime troops bombarded the Homs province town of Rastan with "fierce and continuous shelling since dawn."

Rastan residents are facing food shortages and electricity is "completely cut off," the LCC said.

In the eastern city of Deir al-Zour, regime forces killed three civilians during raids in the al-Jura neighborhood, the watchdog reported.

Elsewhere in the Deir al-Zour province, the oil hub of Syria, a pipeline was bombed, the watchdog said. An oil pipeline in Homs province was also attacked, it said but gave no further information.

In the northern city of Aleppo, one civilian was shot dead during the night as he participated in a demonstration, the Observatory said. Regime forces also carried out raids and arrests in Syria's second city.

And in the northwest province of Idlib, violent clashes broke out between regime forces and rebels in a village on the Syrian-Turkish border. Local activists said government troops used artillery in the fighting.

The latest violence comes after dozens were killed on Monday, while according to the Observatory more than 14,400 people have died since the revolt against the regime of President Bashar Assad broke out in March 2011.

The Observatory says most of the dead are civilians, but it counts rebel fighters who are not deserters from the army as civilians.