16 Syria civilians, 19 regime forces killed: rights group

NICOSIA: Syrian security forces have shot dead at least 16 civilians Monday in the flashpoint southern province of Daraa while 19 regime forces were killed in clashes with suspected army deserters, a rights group said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the civilians were killed by gunfire from checkpoints manned by security forces across Daraa, cradle of eight months of anti-regime protests.

It also reported, in a statement received by AFP in Nicosia, that at least 19 soldiers and members of the security forces were killed in clashes with suspected army defectors.

According to UN estimates more than 3,500 people have been killed in the violence that has swept Syria since mid-March when protests against the regime first erupted in Daraa. (AFP)