More than a dozen people died in clashes across Syria on Thursday, opposition activists said, as a UN Security Council call for an immediate end to the fighting fell on deaf ears. In the worst incident, 10 civilians, including three children and two women, died when their small bus was shot up in northern town of Sermeen as they tried to flee to Turkey, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.
The SOHR, which depends on a network of local contacts for its information, said it was not clear who was behind the killings. Other activists blamed the Syrian army, which has been trying to stamp out insurgents in the area. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday's unanimous Council statement had sent a clear message to Syria to end all violence, but Damascus appeared to dismiss the document, which is not legally binding.
At least 8,000 people have died in the year-long revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, according to UN figures issued a week ago, with a motley assortment of fighters grouped in the rebel Syrian Free Army taking on the security apparatus.
Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdesi said this week that 3,000 members of the security forces had died in the uprising, which Damascus blames on terrorist gangs.
Heavily armed government forces have made advances in recent weeks, sweeping armed opponents from strongholds around Syria, but they appear to be struggling to consolidate their gains. Opposition sources said tanks had once again shelled a neighbourhood in the north-eastern city of Hama, which has been a centre of revolt. Opposition sources said at least 20 people had died in army attacks there in the last 48 hours. It is impossible to verify reports from Syria because authorities have denied access to independent journalists.
Syrian troops also turned heavy guns on Sermeen. "Syrian forces are still not able to get inside the town because of fighting, but they are shelling Sermeen and using heavy machineguns," said SOHR head Rami Abdelrahman.
In addition, the SOHR reported heavy fighting in al Qusair, a town close to the Lebanese border. Three residents died in the fighting and four soldiers were killed in an ambush. And fighting erupted in southern Deraa, where several soldiers died in an ambush, he said, while Assad's forces conducted raids in the eastern province of Deir al-Zor and coastal Latakia province to try to snuff out rebellion.
The Security Council's statement was supported by Russia and China, which had both vetoed previous Council resolutions, marking a rare moment of global unity over the crisis. It backed a peace drive by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, which calls for a cease-fire, political dialogue and full access for aid agencies. It also says the army should stop using heavy weapons in populated areas and pull troops back.
However, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said world powers needed to work together much harder to end the bloodshed, saying the Council statement was just "a common message". "We also need to work out a common action plan," he told reporters during a visit to Vienna on Thursday. The UN statement talks of the need for political transition in Syria, but does not demand that Assad to step down - something both the rebels and the Arab League have called for.