Artillery and mortar fire and airstrikes by Syrian government forces in the northern city of Aleppo are killing mostly civilians, including children, a human rights group has said.

A suicide car bomb blast shook Syria’s eastern city of Deir el-Zour today, targeting a military compound in the latest of a wave of blasts to hit the country in recent months, the country’s state media reported.

The United Nations has a secret list of top Syrian officials who could face investigation for crimes against humanity carried out by security forces in their crackdown against an anti-government uprising, a panel of UN human rights experts said.

FRANCE recalled its ambassador to Damascus as Syrian President Bashar Assad came under increasing pressure from home and abroad, with army defectors killing at least eight soldiers in a daring attack on the military.

Syrian army defectors have launched attacks on president Bashar Assad’s military targets near the capital Damascus.