Seven killed in Syrian security crackdown ‘shelling’
At least seven people were killed in Talkalakh, western Syria, on Sunday in “indiscriminate shelling” by security forces, activists have said.
Earlier, AFP news agency also reported a resident as saying that three protesters were shot dead as they left a mosque in the town. Hundreds have fled the border town since Friday as authorities try to crush a revolt against the government.
Across Syria, more than 700 people have died in more than two months of protests against President Bashar al-Assad's regime, activists say.
The government has maintained that it is pursuing what it describes as "armed terrorist gangs", which it blames for the deaths of soldiers, security service personnel and police officers.
However, reports from Syria are hard to verify independently as foreign journalists are not allowed into the country.
In Talkalakh on Sunday, activists said two women and five men were killed by the military during "indiscriminate shelling of four districts in the town".
At a nearby border crossing with Lebanon, a woman fleeing the violence was killed and five people injured, after gunfire from the Syrian side, Lebanese border officials said.
The incident reportedly took place at al-Boqayah crossing, near the north Lebanon town of Wadi Khaled.
The Syrian government offered to launch a dialogue with the opposition on Sunday, after reportedly freeing several dissidents who had been held in connection with the unrest.
But the dialogue was rejected by the Local Coordination Committees, who said the government must stop shooting protesters first, Reuters news agency reported.
Elsewhere on Sunday, there were clashes at the borders with Syria, the Palestinian territories and Lebanon, with Israeli forces opening fire on groups of protesters.
