Syrian troops fought fierce battles with army defectors Monday, in violence that coincided with local elections touted by President Bashar al-Assad as a step toward political reforms pledged after an uprising against his rule, dpa reported.
Opposition activists said five people, including two army defectors, were killed in clashes in Idlib, near the border with Turkey, where some commanders of the rebel Free Syrian Army are based.
Three more people were killed in Daraa, near Syria's border with Jordan, said activists based in neighbouring Lebanon.
The state-run SANA news agency said three members of the security forces were killed in battles with a "terrorist gang" in Idlib. It added that four gunmen were also killed.
Violence was also reported in the flashpoint cities of Hama and Homs, where activists said few people took part in municipal elections boycotted by the opposition.
A total of 42,889 candidates contested 17,588 seats across Syria's 1,337 municipal regions.
"The elections give the citizens bigger freedom in practicing their efficient role in the economic, social and cultural domains at the level of their provinces," said Prime Minister Adel Safar.
The Syrian government says the vote is part of a series of reform promises made by president al-Assad in the wake of an uprising against his rule. He has also promised to hold parliamentary elections next year.
The current protests are the most serious challenge to four decades of rule by al-Assad's minority Alawite sect over Syria's Sunni majority.
The turnout for the election was not immediately clear.
State television showed long queues at polling stations, saying people from across Syria had taken part in the vote. Government officials said the turnout had reached more than 30 per cent by midday.
But Syrian activists based in Beirut said the turnout had not even reach 10 per cent by noon.
"These are not elections ... these are called fake elections. People are being forced to vote," Sheikh Anas Airout, a cleric who played a key role in the protests, told dpa by phone from Turkey.
"I know a lot of people who were pushed to run in these elections and were threatened with arrest if they did not run," said Airout, who is also a member of the Syrian National Council.
The nine-month uprising against al-Assad has raised the spectre of a civil war in Syria, where army defectors have been launching increasingly daring attacks against the military and government sites.
An activist based on the Syrian-Turkish border described Monday's clashes as the fiercest yet. Explosions and heavy machinegun fire were heard in the background as he spoke by phone.
Army deserters and the opposition say the Free Syrian Army numbers some 20,000 former soldiers and volunteers. The Syrian army has some 300,000 soldiers and is equipped and trained by Russia.
The United Nations has said that more than 4,000 people have been killed in the violence, which has prompted the United States, European Union, Arab League and Turkey to impose sanctions that deepened al-Assad's isolation.
UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay was due to brief the UN Security Council on Syria later in the day.
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