BEIRUT (Reuters) – At least 23 people were reported killed in Syria yesterday as violence intensified in the eighth month of an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, pushing the death toll close to 4,600, an activist group said.
The Arab League, which has deepened Assad’s isolation by announcing economic sanctions against Damascus, gave Syria until today to sign an initiative to end the crackdown, Qatar’s foreign minister said.
He did not explicitly say when the sanctions would come into force, but said they would be imposed soon if Syria does not sign the deal, which includes Arab monitors to ensure that Damascus abides by a promise to end violence.
In a three-hour, night-time battle in the north-western city of Idlib near the Turkish border, seven members of the security forces, five army rebels and three civilians were killed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.
Five civilians were shot dead by security forces in central Homs province, and a man’s body was returned to his family five days after he had been arrested.
