Syrian rebels made a new push into Damascus today, clashing heavily with troops in the rebellious suburbs of the capital and firing mortars at a presidential palace and a Palestinian refugee camp, activists said.

Government warplanes bombed a town in northern Syria today, killing at least 18 people, activists said, while the new UN envoy to the country acknowledged that brokering an end to the nation’s civil war will be a “very, very difficult” task.

The UN’s new envoy to Syria said today that president Bashar Assad’s regime should realise that the need for change is both “urgent” and “necessary” and that it must meet the “legitimate” demands of the Syrian people.

Evidence mounted of a new massacre in Syria’s deepening civil war, with activists reporting a killing spree by government forces after they seized the suburb of Daraya from rebel control three days ago.

Syrian opposition activists accused President Bashar al-Assad’s army yesterday of massacring hundreds of people in a town close to the capital that government forces recaptured from rebels.

A Syrian government official warned the United States today that military intervention in Syria could lead to regional turmoil as regime forces bombed a northern village and stormed a rebel-held Damascus suburb, killing dozens of people.

Activists have posted a video which they say shows the bodies of 15 men who were among dozens killed in heavy government shelling of a farming village in central Syria.

International envoy Kofi Annan tried to breathe new life into his moribund peace efforts in Syria, saying he has reached a new framework with President Bashar Assad and would discuss it soon with rebel leaders.

Syrian troops have shelled the southern city of Daraa, killing at least 15 people, activists said today.

Syrian troops have heavily shelled a rebel-held neighbourhood in the flashpoint central city of Homs as the military appeared to be readying to storm the area, activists said.

Syrian authorities have today denied the reports of a new massacre as "absolutely baseless".

Syria’s foreign ministry has denied government troops were behind an attack on a string of villages that left more than 90 people dead.

At least 28 people have been killed by Syrian government shelling and offensives against rebel-held towns, activists said today.

Syrian troops have launched a fierce assault on a Damascus suburb, days ahead of a deadline for a UN-brokered ceasefire.

Syrian forces launched a fresh assault on Homs today as the Red Cross pressed forward with efforts to deliver badly needed aid to thousands of people stranded in a besieged neighbourhood despite warnings from regime troops of land mines and booby traps.

A wounded Western journalist working for The Sunday Times escaped from Syria after being trapped for days in the besieged city of Homs, activist groups said.

Two wounded Western journalists escaped from Syria today after being trapped for days in the besieged central city of Homs, activist groups said.

The UN’s human rights chief said today the situation in Syria had deteriorated rapidly in recent weeks and demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

Syrian artillery pounded rebel-held areas of Homs yesterday as President Bashar al-Assad’s government announced that voters had overwhelmingly approved a new constitution in a referendum derided as a sham by his critics at home and abroad.

ARAB League delegates arrived in Syria to arrange the deployment of foreign monitors under a plan aimed at ending the regime’s deadly 9-month-old crackdown on dissent.

Syrian troops have attacked a northern town, killing at least 23 civilians, activists say.

Two people have died in clashes between Syrian troops and army defectors today.

SYRIA has entered a state of civil war with more than 4,000 people dead and an increasing number of soldiers defecting from the army to take up arms against President Bashar Assad’s regime, the UN’s top human rights official has warned.

Syrian troops stormed a central town and a north-western region in search of opponents of the government as pressure on Damascus intensified to end an eight-month crisis that has left thousands of people dead, activists said.

Syria’s allies in Russia have called for urgent talks between Damascus and the opposition, saying an attack by Syrian rebel troops on a government building looks like the start of a civil war.

TENS of thousands of Syrian government supporters poured into the streets to protest an Arab League vote to suspend the country’s membership, as Turkey sent planes to evacuate diplomatic staff and their families after a night of attacks on embassies.

Clashes between Syrian troops and army defectors in the country’s north west killed four people today, while gunmen shot dead a political activist in the latest in a wave of targeted killings in a rebellious central city, activists said.

Syrian dissidents meeting in Turkey today formally announced the creation of a broad-based council designed to overthrow President Bashar Assad’s regime in what appeared to be the most serious step yet to unify a fragmented opposition.

Syrian security forces killed seven people as they opened fire to disperse thousands of protesters rallying against the country's regime on the first day of a Muslim holiday that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, activists said.

Syrian security forces pursuing anti-government protesters stormed a northern village today, killing at least one person and wounding many others during raids and house-to-house searches, activists said.

Syrian troops have shot dead nine people as President Bashar Assad was quoted as telling the UN chief that military operations in his country have ended.

THE Syrian army launched raids on rebel areas yesterday, defying growing international reproach over the regime’s crackdown on the five-month-old uprising.

A SIX-DAY tank assault on the Syrian city of Hama to crush pro-democracy demonstrations has killed at least 300 civilians, an activists’ organisation said yesterday, quoting refugees from the city.

GUNMEN in plainclothes are randomly shooting people in the streets of the besieged Syrian city of Hama and families are burying their loved ones in gardens at home for fear of being killed themselves if they venture out to cemeteries, residents said.

SYRIAN security forces backed by tanks and snipers launched a ferocious assault on defiant cities and towns yesterday, killing up to 140 people as the regime raced to crush dissent ahead of Ramadan.

SYRIAN security forces shot dead at least 15 people yesterday after tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets demanding the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad, witnesses said.