Intense fighting rages in Syria's southern city

Mon Aug 20th 2012

Syrian activist groups say fighting between rebels and regime forces has killed six people, including two children and two women, in the southern city of Daraa, birthplace of the country's 18-month-old uprising.

Today's violence in Daraa was reported by the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination committees.

The fighting comes on the second day of Eid al-Fitr, a major Muslim holiday that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

The two groups reported fighting across much of the rest of the country, including the suburbs of Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo, with scores killed or wounded.

The reports could not be independently confirmed.

Anti-regime activists say the violence in Syria has killed some 20,000 people since the uprising began in March 2011.