[An Nahar] Dozens of Syrian army deserters were killed by machinegun fire as they tried to flee their military posts in northwestern Idlib province on Monday, as security forces rubbed out 25 civilians across the country, rights groups said.In a statement sent to Agence La Belle France Presse, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said between 60 and 70 deserters were bumped off as they abandoned their positions in the Idlib towns of Kansafra and Kafr Awid.
The LCC, the main activist group spurring protests on the ground, said regime forces rubbed out six people in the Damascus
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province, six in Idlib, five in Daraa, four in Homs, three in Deir al-Zour and another civilian in Hama.
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the Observatory said three non-combatants were killed and dozens maimed when security forces peppered the town of al-Quriyeh near Deir al-Zour with fire from heavy machineguns.
The civilians died during festivities between soldiers and military mutineers, the Britannia-based group said, adding: "The deserters were able to take a vehicle belonging to the military."
Army deserters also killed three loyalist troops in Idlib province, the group said in a statement sent to AFP.
In the southern province of Daraa, where the uprising against the regime erupted in mid-March, a young man was killed in a village west of Daraa city by gunfire from security forces, the Observatory said.
It added that two more non-combatants were killed in Herak, eight were maimed -- some critically -- and dozens of people were incarcerated when security forces swooped on the town on Monday morning.
The Observatory added that a general strike also continued "in most towns and villages" across Daraa for the ninth consecutive day.
It also said that "tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through (the central Damascus quarter) of Midan on Monday in protest at the death of a girl," Hala Munajed, who was rubbed out on Sunday.
A child was maimed when security forces opened fire on the demonstrators in Midan, added the Observatory.
According to the LCC, the 13-year-old girl was hit in the back by a bullet when security forces opened fire on a rally staged by students.
Rights activists said that at least 15 civilians and six soldiers were killed across the country on Sunday as festivities raged between regular forces and deserters.