16 Syrian soldiers killed in attacks: reports

AFP , Sunday 29 Jan 2012

Syrian state media report that armed rebels kill at least 16 soldiers near Damascus

At least 16 Syrian soldiers were killed on Sunday in separate attacks, one in the northwest and the other near the capital, activists and official media reported.

Ten members of the military died when their convoy was attacked at Kansafra in the Jebel al-Zuwiya area of the northwest, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

And the official SANA news agency said "an armed terrorist group" killed six others, including two officers, when a bus carrying army personnel was targeted near the Damascus suburb of Sahnaya.

The Observatory also reported three civilians killed on Sunday as soldiers and deserters clashed at Kfar Batna and Ain Terma in the Ghuta area near the capital in Damascus province.

According to an AFP tally taken from reports by the Observatory and official Syrian media, at least 229 people -- among them 145 civilians -- have been killed since Tuesday.

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