At least 18 people have been killed in Syria in further clashes between security forces and military defectors, according to an opposition group.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the pre-dawn skirmish in the north-western city of Idlib killed seven soldiers and police officers, as well as five anti-government army defectors and three civilians.
Security forces also killed a civilian in the southern province of Dara’a and two others in the central region of Homs, the activist group said.
The fighting came a day after the UN’s human rights chief called on the international community to protect Syrian civilians.
Navi Pillay, the UN high commissioner for human rights, told an emergency meeting of the UN human rights council in Geneva: “In light of the manifest failure of the Syrian authorities to protect their citizens, the international community needs to take urgent and effective measures to protect the Syrian people.”
More than 4 000 people have been killed since the pro-democracy uprising against President Bashar al-Assad’s hardline regime began in mid-March.
November was the deadliest month of the uprising so far, with at least 950 people killed in violent clashes between security forces and opposition groups. – guardian.co.uk