At least 59 killed in Syria violence

At least 59 people, the majority of them civilians, were killed in fighting across Syria on Wednesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The Britain-based monitoring group said at least eight civilians were killed in shelling by regime forces in the restive central city of Homs while 24 were killed in fighting in the Damascus region, among them a three-year-old child and a 25-year-old woman. Five civilians also died in the southern province of Daraa and one was killed by sniper fire in Idlib, located in the northwest of the country. The Observatory said the casualties also include six rebel troops killed near the capital Damascus and 15 soldiers killed in fighting with rebel forces in the Bustan al-Diwan sector of Homs. Homs has become a flashpoint of the 10-month revolt against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, whose fierce crackdown has left more than 5,400 people dead according to the United Nations.