Clashes in the southern countryside of Hama and shells target al-Baath city

A member of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) looks at the valley in the village of Ain al-Baida, in the Idlib province of Syria, not far from the Turkish border, on December 15, 2011. A rebel group of Syrian defectors reportedly took position against the Syrian Army along the Turkish border. Army defectors killed at least eight Syrian troops on December 14 in an act of revenge after security forces shot dead five civilians, activists said, in the second such insurgent attack in as many days. "At least eight soldiers were killed in an ambush on four military jeeps travelling in the village of Al-Asharna on the outskirts of (the central city of) Hama," said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The violence comes amid diplomatic wrangling, as Western nations seek tough action against Syria at the UN Security Council, where the regime of President Bashar al-Assad has support from his veto-wielding ally Russia. AFP PHOTO / ENN - SEZAYI ERKEN = RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS (Photo credit should read SEZAYI ERKEN/AFP/Getty Images)

Hama Province: Violent clashes are still taking place in the area of Khirbet al-Jamea’ in the southern countryside of Hama, between the rebel and Islamic Factions against the regime forces backed by gunmen loyal to them, amid continued aerial and artillery bombardment on the area which killed members from the regime forces and the NDF … Continue reading Clashes in the southern countryside of Hama and shells target al-Baath city