Troops shell homes in northern Syria, opposition group says

2 September 2012, 16:29 (GMT+05:00)

See Also:

Government forces shelled a number of areas in northern Syria on Sunday, part of efforts by the regime to target rebel strongholds, DPA reported.

Troops used planes to hit several homes in Sarja town, in the province of Idlib, and in Aleppo, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based opposition group, reported.

Government forces and rebels have been fighting for weeks over control of the country's restive northern areas.

State-run media reported that government troops in Homs had forced "dozens of terrorists, who were trying to infiltrate from Lebanon, to retreat."

Sunday's report came a day after state news agency SANA said at least 15 people had been killed by a car bomb planted near a Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus.

News out of Syria cannot be independently verified as the government has banned journalists from entering restive areas since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March last year.