Syrian forces 'attack towns, killing 10'

DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria’s government and rebels traded accusations of a chemical attack Tuesday on a northern village near Aleppo. However a U.S. official said there was no evidence of any such attack. The regime, whose allegation was backed by ally Russia, said 31 people were killed, including 21 civilians and 10 soldiers. The reports could not be independently verified because of tight media restrictions, particularly in government-controlled areas that are virtually shut to all foreign media and outside observers.

At least 48 Syrian soliders and eight Iraqis died on Monday when they were ambushed inside Iraq, The Associated Press reports.

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.

Syria's government on Tuesday accused rebel forces of using chemical weapons for the first time, but the opposition denied the claim, saying instead that government forces might have used banned weapons. "Terrorists fired rockets containing chemical materials on Khan al-Assal in Aleppo province," the state news agency SANA and Syrian state television said.

Anti-Assad rebels briefly seized the sole crossing between Israel and Syria on Thursday morning, sending UN staff scurrying to their shelters, before Syrian soldiers managed to push them back and reassert their control of Quneitra. Austria said on Thursday it would pull out of a UN force on the Golan Heights after battles between Syrian troops and rebels there, in a blow to a mission that has kept the Israeli-Syrian war front quiet for 40 years.

Syrian opposition groups meeting in Turkey were drafting a joint declaration Thursday on how to support the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad's regime, organisers said.The declaration was expected to be issued Thursday evening or Friday morning at the Mediterranean resort of Antalya, where the dissidents have been meeting since Wednesday.Some 300 Syrian activists, mostly exiles, representing a broad spectrum of political forces opposed to Assad's regime, are attending the talks, the largest gathering of the opposition so far.

Syrian opposition groups meeting in Turkey were drafting a joint declaration Thursday on how to support the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad's regime, organisers said.The declaration was expected to be issued Thursday evening or Friday morning at the Mediterranean resort of Antalya, where the dissidents have been meeting since Wednesday.Some 300 Syrian activists, mostly exiles, representing a broad spectrum of political forces opposed to Assad's regime, are attending the talks, the largest gathering of the opposition so far.