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BEIRUT – Activists say Syrian troops have shelled the rebel-held centraltown of Rastan. The town, just north of the central city of Homs, has been underrebel control since January. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the LocalCoordination Committees say Rastan has been shelled since earlyhours Monday. Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Observatory, says the rebels wereable to destroy several army vehicles during the clashes. The violence further undermines a U.N.-backed peace plan that issupposed to bring an end to Syria's deadly crisis. A cease-fire that was supposed to begin on April 12 has had only alimited effect, throwing into doubt the rest of the plan that callsfor talks between President Bashar Assad's regime and those seekingto end his rule. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for furtherinformation. AP's earlier story is below. BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian forces killed at least five people whenthey raided a Sunni farming village on Sunday, torching homes andlooting shops in what activists said is a sign of worseningrelations among the country's religious groups. Tensions stemming from the 14-month-old uprising against PresidentBashar Assad also touched off clashes across the border in Lebanonas the revolt threatened to morph into a broader conflict. The relentless violence further undermines a U.N.-backed peace planthat is supposed to bring an end to Syria's deadly crisis. Acease-fire that was supposed to begin on April 12 has had only alimited effect, throwing into doubt the rest of the plan that callsfor talks between Assad's regime and those seeking to end his rule. The raid against the impoverished village of al-Tamana, about 55kilometers (35 miles) northwest of the city of Hama, began lateSaturday and continued through the early hours on Sunday. TheBritain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said five peoplewere killed in the raid and government troops were setting fire tohomes. Speaking via Skype from Hama, activist Mousab Alhamadee said onelocal rebel leader was killed alongside five civilians. "He was a hero in the Free Syrian Army who was trying to defend thecivilians," he said, referring to the umbrella group of local,anti-regime militias. An amateur video posted online Sunday showed men carrying the deadbody of a woman from a house. A second video showed men in a mosquepraying over five coffins, three of them open with flowers piled onbodies wrapped in white cloth. The area, a plain of farmland along the Orontes River, is dottedwith villages of Christians, Sunni Muslims and Alawites, theoffshoot sect of Shiite Islam to which Assad belongs. Alhamadee, who is from a village near al-Tamana, said sectariantensions were low before the uprising, but have deteriorated asSunni villages like al-Tamana joined the anti-Assad uprising. He said most of the village's residents had fled and regime forceswere setting fire to houses and looting shops. He and the Observatory also reported shelling in a nearby village,Hayaleen. "The regime is trying to punish these villages and to put an end tothis revolution as quickly as it can," he said. In northern Lebanon, meanwhile, residents said running gunbattlesbroke out in the city Saturday and continued through Sundaymorning, primarily between a neighborhood populated by SunniMuslims opposed to Assad and another area with many Assad backersfrom his Alawite sect. The fighting highlights how easily trouble in Syria can raisetensions in neighboring Lebanon, with which it shares a complex webof political and sectarian ties and rivalries. Lebanon's national news agency NNA said one soldier was shot deadby a sniper in the city early Sunday. Another man was found dead onthe side of a road while a third died after a shell landed in aresidential neighborhood. An Associated Press reporter in Tripoli said the Lebanese army sentreinforcements to the city, but that intermittent clashes continuedSunday with gunmen shooting at each other with automatic rifles.Heavier weapons, like rocket-propelled grenades, have also beenfired. Lebanon is sharply split along sectarian lines, with 18 religioussects. But it also has a fragile political fault line preciselyover the issue of Syria. An array of pro-Syrian parties support Assad's regime, as do manyLebanese citizens. Others oppose Assad and accuse Damascus ofheavy-handed meddling in Lebanese politics. The two sides are the legacy of, and backlash against, Syria'svirtual rule over Lebanon from 1976 to 2005 and its continuedinfluence since. Syria's uprising started in March 2011 with protests calling forpolitical reform. The government brutally cracked down on dissent,and many in the opposition have since taken up arms to defendthemselves and attack government troops. Some soldiers also haveswitched sides and joined forces with the rebels. World powers have backed the peace plan, which was put forward byU.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan to end the crisis, but thebloodshed has not stopped. More than 100 U.N. observers have beendeployed in Syria to oversee the truce between the government andarmed rebels. The daily death toll in Syria has declined as the number ofobservers has risen, but few experts expect the U.N. plan tosucceed in its entirety. The Observatory said a total of 19civilians were killed nationwide, plus two rebels and 5 regimesoldiers. Activists also reported government attacks in rebellious Damascussuburbs. Omar Hamza said via Skype that three people were killed earlySunday by shells and machine gun rounds fired at Douma. Thegovernment was raiding other areas looking for activists, he said. The Observatory also reported three killed in suburbs east of thecapital, one of them a rebel commander. Activist claims could not be independently verified. The Syrian government did not comment on the reports and bars mostmedia from working in the country. Also Sunday, two Turkish journalists who had been detained in Syriafor two months arrived in Istanbul on a plane from Iran after thatcountry helped negotiate their release by Syrian authorities. Journalists Adem Ozkose and Hamit Coskun were abducted bymilitiamen who had blocked a road and were stopping cars andabducting passengers, Ozkose told reporters in Istanbul on Sunday. He and Coskun were later held separately at a prison in Damascus,where they slept on a concrete floor, had no sunlight and losttrack of the days. "Finding out what day it was made me happy. It made me appreciatefreedom. Thank God we were saved, but there are many others insideSyria waiting for freedom," he said. ___ Malla reported from Tripoli, Lebanon. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as China Spray Coating Line , China Powder Coating Line, and more. For more , please visit Automatic Powder Coating Systems today!
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