Clashes over the weekend between Syrian soldiers and army defectors and a shooting at a funeral have killed at least 17 armymen and 14 civilians,the latest sign of the militarisation of the uprising against President Bashar Assads regime,a human rights group said Monday. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the latest fighting took place Sunday in Idlib province,Homs,and Dael. The group said the shooting continued on Monday. The violence has so far claimed 2,900 people in Syria,according to UN estimates. The clashes were very intense Sunday and I heard shooting this morning as well, said a resident of Homs where the observatory reported at least seven civilians were killed Sunday. The man said he saw troops in armored carriers in Khaldiyeh and Baba Amr. The army is isolating some areas, he said. The Observatory said five soldiers and three civilians were killed in Dael,while the rest were killed in Idlib. Also Sunday,a shooting at a funeral in the Damascus left three dead,it said. The fighting was the worst since last moths clashes in Rastan that the army retook after five days of intense fighting. The Syrian government denies any defections and blames terrorists and Muslim extremists for the violence. The trend toward militarisation of the uprising has raised fears that Syria may be sliding toward civil war.
