Six killed in Syrian clashes

Six people, including two women and two children, have been killed in fighting between rebels and regime forces in the southern Syrian city of Daraa, activist groups said today.

The violence in Daraa, birthplace of the country’s 18-month-old uprising, was reported by the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Co-ordination Committees.

The fighting comes on the second day of Eid al-Fitr, a major Muslim holiday which 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 the capital, 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.