Syrian security forces killed 34 civilians, including 10 children, in clashes across the country on Thursday, a rights group said. "The toll for the day has risen to 34 civilians killed by the security forces in several regions of Syria, mostly in Homs," said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Separately, seven deserters and eight regular soldiers died in clashes, according to the rights group, among them a colonel killed in Homs, a protest hub in central Syria. The Observatory said the army launched an offensive on Thursday evening in the Karm al-Zeitoun district of Homs, killing 26 civilians, including nine children, and wounding dozens. And in the rebel city of Hama, also central Syria, where the army launched a major assault on Tuesday, four civilians were killed, including a 58-year-old woman shot dead by snipers, according to the same source.