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months-long domestic conflicts.
Thirteen soldiers were killed in the central Syrian city of Homs in what authorities said was an ambush set by an “armed terrorist group.”
The soldiers were chasing “murderers” to bring them to justice, when they were attacked, authorities said.
Al-Jazeera TV reported they were killed in Homs, the third largest Syrian city, after troops backed by tanks were deployed there to quell anti-government protests.
Anti-government rallies have been held in the southern city of Daraa and spread to other Syrian cities including the capital Damascus since mid-March.
Troops backed by tanks rolled into Daraa on April 25, but failed to curb the ongoing protests.
Ten Syrian workers, on their way back from Lebanon to Damascus, were killed and three others wounded in an ambush by armed groups.
The assailants opened fire on them from a close distance on the Damascus-Homs highway.
Protests and ensuing violence in Syria have left more than 100 soldiers and security agents dead across the country, while protesters say hundreds of civilians have been killed.
The Syrian Interior Ministry recently urged all those who have been involved in riots to turn themselves in to authorities before May 15.
It said more than 900 people had surrendered.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Syrians staged a sit-in before the US embassy in Damscus to protest the US intervention in Syria’s internal affairs.
They shouted slogans against what they said was the US double-standard policy on Syria and some other countries, saying the US intervention would only “strengthen the unity of the Syrian people.”
On April 29, US President Barack Obama signed an executive order imposing sanctions against senior Syrian officials and government entities.
Syria has already been under US sanctions because it is designated as a “state sponsor of terrorism” by the US State Department, but the new sanctions extended the penalties to individuals.
The US government is mulling further sanctions against Syria amid escalating violence in the country. – Xinhua.