AFP

BEIRUT FIERCE clashes broke out on Tuesday between Syrian troops and rebels as the regime sent reinforcements into some hot spots, despite a pledge by President Bashar al Assad to implement a peace plan.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said fighting was taking place in various parts of the country including in the southern province of Daraa, in northwest Idlib province, in central Homs and near the capital.

In Daraa, cradle of the oneyear uprising against Assad’s regime, fighting erupted overnight in the town of Inkhel after rebels attacked army checkpoints.

In the same region, dozens of troop carriers arrived in the town of Dael, where the army carried out raids and arrests the day before.

Sayyed Mahmud, an activist in Daraa reached by Skype, told AFP the situation was extremely tense in the town.

“They burned down 14 houses yesterday. They are arresting people and have sent in troop reinforcements,” he said.

“As part of the regime’s campaign to starve the people, troops are raiding homes, destroying food stocks and equipment. They go into bakeries and destroy the dough.

There are 15-hour power cuts a day.” In Idlib, heavy fighting was taking place on the outskirts of the town of Taftanaz, where two civilians and four soldiers were killed amid heavy machine gun fire and shelling, the Observatory said.

“Four civilians have been wounded and several homes torched,” it added. “Rebels managed to disable a troop carrier and have killed or wounded a number of government troops.” Clashes killed a civilian elsewhere in the province.

In Damascus province, fighting was reported in the towns of Douma and in Zabadani, where the army was carrying out arrests and raiding homes.

The Observatory said dozens of troop carriers had arrived in Zabadani early in the morning.

In central Homs, three civilians were killed in shelling of the city’s Bayyada neighbourhood while reg-ime forces backed by tanks were said to be moving on the region of Hula. The unrest was taking place as Red Cross chief Jakob Kellenberger was on a fresh mission to Syria — his third since last year, when Damascus launched a crackdown on anti-government protests which the UN says has left more than 9,000 dead. UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan on Monday said Assad had accepted an April 10 deadline to start implementing a peace plan.

Annan said Assad had agreed to “immediately” start pulling troops out of protest cities and complete a troop and heavy weapon withdrawal by April 10, US ambassador Susan Rice said after Annan briefed the UN Security Council.