5 Syria troops killed fighting 'defectors'

Syrian soldiers fought gunmen suspected to be army defectors in the flashpoint central province of Homs yesterday in clashes that left five troops dead, a human rights group said, while a crackdown focused on the provincial capital left two civilians dead.
"Five soldiers were killed and others wounded as a result of clashes pitting the army and security forces against gunmen believed to be defectors at a checkpoint near the town of Qurayn in Homs province," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP.
The Observatory said some "20 soldiers fled to the surrounding orchards."
In another confrontation with gunmen thought to be defectors in the northwestern province of Idlib, "17 in the army's ranks were wounded," the Britain-based watchdog said.
Syrian security forces opened fire in a residential area in the city of Homs, a hotbed of dissent, killing one person and wounding six others, the same rights group said.
"One person was killed and six others wounded when (security forces) opened heavy machinegun fire on a house in Bab al-Sabaa," said the Observatory.
"Another civilian was also shot dead by security forces during a raid in the Al-Khalidiyeh neighbourhood," he said.
The clashes came a day after the Observatory said security forces killed 11 civilians, including eight in the flashpoint central city of Homs.