12 Dead in Army, Deserters Clash in Idlib as U.N. Says More than 2,900 Killed since March

Twelve people were killed in clashes between soldiers and deserters in villages of Idlib province in northwest Syria on Thursday, a human rights group said.

"Seven soldiers and five deserters were killed in the clashes in villages west of Jabal al-Zawiya," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that dozens were wounded.

Meanwhile, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said Thursday that more than 2,900 people have been killed in the six months since the beginning of a crackdown on anti-government protests in Syria.

"According to the detailed list of names of individuals we've been keeping, the total number of people killed since protests began in Syria now stands at more than 2,900," Commission spokesman Rupert Colville told AFP in Geneva.

Colville said that figure could rise because "quite a lot more people" have been reported missing in Syria since the uprising against President Bashar Assad's government in mid-March, and the U.N. has yet to verify their whereabouts.

Russia and China on Tuesday vetoed a European-backed draft U.N. Security Council resolution that would have threatened possible action against Assad. Non-permanent members South Africa, Brazil, India, and Lebanon abstained.

Meanwhile, the official Syrian new agency SANA reported on Wednesday that the “competent authorities” in al-Khaldiyeh neighborhood in Homs seized a white Kia Rio Car with the license plate No. 418869.

The seized car was loaded with pump-action shotguns, automatic firearms, pistols, ammunition, military uniforms and torture instruments including cables and sticks, in addition to large amount of stimulant drugs, said SANA.

“The authorities arrested three armed terrorist members and discovered a place for kidnapping innocent individuals and torturing them in the same area,” it added.