9 killed in clashes across Syria: NGO

BEIRUT: At least nine people were killed in fighting across Syria on Sunday, a watchdog said, as rebels and regime troops clashed in several provinces as they battled for control of restive areas.

Regime forces shelled several areas of Damascus province, a day after mortar fire killed at least 30 civilians attending a funeral in the town of Zamalka, 10 kilometres (six miles) east of the capital, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Britain-based watchdog said troops shelled the town of Daraya during the night, killing three people, adding that several blasts were heard in Damascus itself, without elaborating on casualties there. In the central province of Hama, regime forces shot dead five people, the monitoring group said.

Activists in Hama told AFP that regime forces shelled the Halfaya suburb, while grassroots opposition network the Local Coordination Committees said the army was using helicopters to attack the area.

Meanwhile the army continued to shell several besieged neighbourhoods of the central city of Homs, according to activists, with the Observatory saying several buildings in the Jourat al-Shiah neighbourhood were destroyed, leading to an unknown number of deaths. Rebels and regime forces clashed in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, where one rebel fighter was killed, the Observatory added. The northern province of Aleppo saw continued fighting too, where "regime forces withdrew from the village of Atarib," the monitoring group said. The village is situated near the northwestern province of Idlib, much of which is under rebel control.

At least 120 people were killed across Syria on Saturday, the Observatory said, revising up an earlier toll of 83.