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Gunmen kill five-member family in Syria’s Hama

19 April 2012 02:10 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Armed groups stormed a house in central Hama province on Wednesday, killing a man, his wife and three children, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Zakaria Khalif was killed along with his family at their residence in the al-Mala’ab neighborhood in Hama, said SANA, giving no further details about the assault.

Separately, seven law-enforcement members, including two officers, were killed Wednesday in separate attacks in northern Idlib province and the Damascus suburb of Douma, said SANA.

It said six law-enforcement forces, including a first lieutenant, were killed and 11 others were wounded when an explosive device detonated on al-Masdouma road in Idlib.

In southern Daraa province, a police officer was killed by a sniper shot at al-Jamarek area, said SANA.

In the Damascus suburb of Douma, SANA said a lieutenant colonel was shot dead and a warrant officer was injured in a drive-by shooting by armed groups.

In northern Aleppo, armed groups attacked overnight bus of government forces, taking a number of them hostages, said SANA, giving no further specifics about the number of the abductees.

On the opposition side, activists said government troops fired mortar shells at central Homs province Wednesday, leaving two civilians killed.

The Local Coordination Committees, activists’ network, reported that the shelling targeted al-Khalidiyeh and al-Bayada neighborhoods in Homs, which are known to be strongholds of the rebel Free Syrian Army.

The incidents came as the UN advance observers team is touring some restive areas in Syria and carrying on talks with the Syrian government regarding a protocol that would regulate their work on ground.

The advance team of UN observers arrived in Damascus Sunday night to monitor the implementation of a cease-fire which was brokered by UN-Arab League joint special envoy Kofi Annan and went into effect Thursday.