15 killed as thousands march in Syria

The head of Syria's military police has defected from the army and declared allegiance to the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, according to a video and a Syrian security source.

Peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi held "constructive" talks in Syria with President Bashar al-Assad, as Washington warned that his regime's days are numbered. As jihadists seized an area populated by the embattled leader's Alawite community, the opposition National Coalition accused Damascus of committing a "massacre" of dozens of civilians in the bombing of a bakery.

AMMAN, Jordan — More than 200 Syrian soldiers and opposition fighters died in the eight-day battle for a police academy near the embattled northern city of Aleppo, activists said Sunday as President Bashar Assad lashed out at the West for sending aid to those trying to oust him. The Britain-based anti-regime group The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebels seized control of the police academy in Khan al-Asal, west of Aleppo, after entering the sprawling government complex with tanks they captured from Assad’s troops in previous battles.

BEIRUT – Syria’s state-run TV says an explosion has struck the main university in the northern city of Aleppo, causing casualties. The report didn’t give further details about Tuesday’s blast or specify the number of victims. Aleppo is Syria’s largest city and a former commercial hub. It has been a major front in the country’s civil war since July, with frequent battles between regime troops and rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad.

Syrian security forces opened fire on demonstrators Friday in the central city of Homs, killing five people and wounding several others, rights activists told AFP by telephone.Security forces opened fire to disperse protests that broke out after weekly Muslim prayers, activist Najati Tayara said.Five people were killed and some of those wounded were in serious condition, Tayara said.Thousands of Syrians rallied Friday on a "Day of Defiance" against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad across the country and several protests took place in Homs.

Syrian rebels on Sunday launched a surprise dawn attack on Baba Amr, a former rebel stronghold in the central city of Homs, a year after it was taken by the army in a bloody battle, a monitoring group said. "At dawn, the rebels launched a surprise attack on Baba Amr, which they have entered," Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman, who was in contact with the rebels, told AFP.

Syrian rebels on Sunday launched a surprise dawn attack on Baba Amr, a former rebel stronghold in the central city of Homs, a year after it was taken by the army in a bloody battle, a monitoring group said. "At dawn, the rebels launched a surprise attack on Baba Amr, which they have entered," Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman, who was in contact with the rebels, told AFP.

Dozens of tortured bodies have been found in a flashpoint district of Damascus, a watchdog reported on Monday, in one of the worst atrocities in Syria's 21-month conflict. The report from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights came as a gruesome video emerged on the Internet of a separate slaying of three children who had their throats slashed, also in the capital.