Jabal al-Zawiya

Hundreds of Syrians are streaming into makeshift refugee camps on the Turkish border every day, fleeing for their lives as the government escalates air raids on northwestern towns and villages.

Amnesty accused Syrian forces Wednesday of waging "relentless, indiscriminate" attacks against its people as a Syrian army defector warned the regime would use chemical weapons as a last resort.

Syrian government troops fought deadly battles with armed rebels as the European Union pushed for an end to a split with Russia over how to end the 15-month bloodshed.

Fierce fighting erupted on Wednesday between regime troops and rebels near Damascus and in Homs province, a watchdog said, while reporting 39 more people killed across Syria.

Violence raged on Monday across Syria, where at least 36 people, most of them regime forces, were reported killed as clashes erupted in several restive provinces, monitors said.

Troops shot dead six civilians on Sunday in Homs despite the presence of UN observers in the rebel province to pave the way for a 300-strong mission approved by the Security Council, monitors said.

Tanks raided a rebel bastion near Damascus on Sunday, activists said as UN observers toured Syrian hot spots, laying the ground for a 300-strong mission newly approved by the Security Council.

The UN Security Council Saturday voted unanimously in favor of a Western-drafted resolution to send observers to monitor a shaky truce in Syria, where the latest reports claim sporadic violence has killed 12 people.

Fierce clashes in Syria killed at least 18 people Wednesday, mostly in Homs, as regime forces stormed and shelled villages in fresh operations, monitors said.

Syria was hit by a lethal car bombing on Sunday, the third in two days, ahead of a mission sent by special envoy Kofi Annan for talks on a monitoring operation to end a year of bloodshed.

UN-Arab League mediator Kofi Annan and Russia urged President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday to speed up efforts to end the bloodletting in Syria, as regime forces overran another rebel city.

"Assad has killed so many people that he deserves a fate worse than Kadhafi's," spits Ammar al-Wawi, a one-time Syrian officer now second-in-command of the rebel Free Syrian Army.

UN-Arab League mediator Kofi Annan and Russia on Wednesday urged President Bashar al-Assad to speed up efforts to end the bloodletting in Syria, as regime forces seized another rebel city.

Regime forces seized another rebel city, activists said Wednesday, as UN-Arab League mediator Kofi Annan and Russia urged President Bashar al-Assad to speed up efforts to end the bloodletting in Syria.

Syrian troops Tuesday pressed an assault on rebel strongholds near the Turkish border, as peace envoy Kofi Annan awaited a response from the regime on UN-Arab League proposals to end the bloody conflict.

Syrian troops on Tuesday pressed an assault on rebel strongholds in the Turkish border region, as the opposition urged foreign military intervention after dozens of women and children were killed in Homs.

Syria's opposition on Monday accused security forces of massacring 47 women and children in the restive city of Homs and urged the UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the killings.

UN-Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan left Damascus on Sunday without managing to secure an accord to end bloodletting in Syria, as fighting raged in major flashpoints leaving dozens more dead.

Peace envoy Kofi Annan on Sunday left Syria empty-handed after failing to secure an accord to end Syria's year-long bloodletting, as fighting raged in major flashpoints leaving dozens more dead.

Peace envoy Kofi Annan emerged optimistic on Sunday from talks with President Bashar al-Assad but warned of a "tough" mission to end bloodletting in Syria, even as soldiers were pounding a rebel bastion.