80 killed in Syria violence: NGO

BEIRUT: At least 80 people were killed in violence acrossSyria on Saturday, mostly civilians mowed down as regime forces launched an assault on a town in centralHama province, monitors said.

Fifty-two civilians were among the dead, "40 of them in bombardment and shooting on the town ofLatamna," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Britain-based monitoring group said other civilians were killed inTibetal-Imam, also inHama, as well as in the neighbouringprovinceofHoms, in Idlib to the northwest andAleppoin northernSyria.

Sixteen rebels and 12 regime fighters were also killed nationwide, it said.