Tank shells fired by Syrian Government forces slammed into a building in a southern city, killing at least 11 people there, including women and children, activists said on Sunday.
The attack was part of the latest push by President Bashar Assad’s troops to recapture land lost to rebels in the southern province and city of Daraa, the birthplace of Syria’s uprising. It was there in 2011 that several youths were arrested for scrawling graffiti calling for Assad’s downfall.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists on the ground, said at least four women and three children, including a baby, were among those killed in the attack on Saturday.
Meanwhile, a key group within the Syrian Opposition National Coalition said on Sunday it would not attend proposed peace talks in Geneva and would quit the Coalition if it participated. A pro-rebel activist in a nearby town, who identified himself as Abu Musab, said the civilians were killed in crossfire during a battle in the city center.