70 people killed in clashes in Syria

More than 70 people have been killed and dozens more wounded in Syria in fighting between government security forces and militants loyal to the country’s former president, Bashar al-Assad, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.

The SOHR said earlier that fighting Thursday between government forces and opposition militants had killed 48 people in the coastal town of Jableh and adjacent villages in Latakia Governorate.

The SOHR described the coordinated attacks as “the most violent assaults against the new authorities since Assad was toppled” in early December last year.