16 civilians among 26 dead in Syria clashes—NGO

BEIRUT—Syrian regime forces killed 16 civilians in clashes and shelling across the country Sunday, while at least 10 soldiers loyal to President Bashar Al-Assad also died, a human rights watchdog said.

Nine civilians and four soldiers were killed in clashes between loyalist troops and rebels in the center of the flashpoint central city of Homs, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The deadly exchanges erupted in the Hamideyeh neighborhood as Syrians were called on to vote on a new constitution, the Britain-based watchdog said.

Shelling of a number of rebel areas of Homs killed another three civilians, it added.

In the northern province of Aleppo, regime snipers killed a civilian in the town of Ezaz, the Observatory said.

Explosions were also reported in the northeastern oil city of Deir Ezzor, the central city of Hama and the northwestern province of Idlib, where a civilian was shot dead in the town of Maarat al-Numan.

In Daraa province, south of Damascus, the cradle of the protests that erupted against Assad’s regime in March last year, regime forces killed a civilian in Alma and rebel troops clashed with soldiers in Hirak.

Three members of the security services were killed in the city of Daraa as their vehicle was targeted by rebel troops, while two soldiers were shot dead in the village of Dael as they mounted a minaret, the Observatory said.

One member of the security services was shot dead and four others wounded when their vehicle was attacked in the city of Nawa, triggering heavy gunfire from security forces that killed one civilian.

On Saturday, 98 people were killed, 72 of them civilians, the Observatory said.