Syrian rebels kill 28 soldiers as fighting rages

— Syrian rebels killed 28 soldiers in attacks on military checkpoints in northern Idlib province Thursday, just hours after a wave of bombings hit Damascus and its outskirts, activists said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebels attacked three military checkpoints near the town of Saraqeb, killing the troops. Five rebels also died in gunbattles after the attacks, according to the Observatory, which relies on reports from activists on the ground.

There was no official confirmation of the deaths from the authorities.

The relentless fighting in Syria has killed more than 36,000 people according to activists since March 2011, when the uprising against President Bashar Assad’s regime began. It started as peaceful protests inspired by the Arab Spring but quickly morphed into a bloody civil war.

On Wednesday alone, activists said more than 100 were killed nationwide in airstrikes, artillery shelling and fighting. Much of the violence took place in rebellious suburbs of the capital, Damascus, and in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and a major front in the 19-month conflict.

Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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