Damascus suburb shelled. (File Photo: Reuters)
Syrian troops shelled a rebel bastion in northern Damascus during the night killing seven people, while another 11 died in violence in other parts of the country, a watchdog said on Saturday.
Three women were among the seven who died in the shelling of Douma, an opposition stronghold in the capital's north, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The Local Coordination Committees (LCC), a grassroots network of activists, said regime forces have been shelling Douma for three days in a row.
Elsewhere in Damascus province, a man, his wife and their child were killed when their house in the town of Irbin was hit by a shell, the Observatory said.
It also reported that regime forces shot dead a man at a checkpoint in the Damascus province town of Al-Tal, while a school student was shot dead on the outskirts of Ashrafiyet Sahnaya.
According to the watchdog, four regime troops were killed during the night, one in a blast in Damascus and three in clashes in rebel bastion Rastan, in the central province of Homs.
Elsewhere, two rebel leaders were killed in clashes near a regime checkpoint in the southern province of Daraa.
The LCC meanwhile reported that regime forces had carried out house-to-house raids and mass arrests in the central province of Hama, one of the first to join the anti-regime uprising.
At least 54 people died in violence on Friday, including 43 civilians, eight regime troops and three rebel fighters, the watchdog said.
According to the Observatory, more than 14,400 people have been killed since the uprising against Assad's regime erupted in mid-March 2011.
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