Syria was afflicted with violence again Sunday, but with foreign journalists banned from the country, the number of deaths was unclear. Six soldiers and three civilians were killed in an ambush by armed groups in central Syria, according to the state news agency, which added that three gunmen were then killed in a firefight. Meantime, activists said government forces killed 12 people in the rebellious city of Hama and elsewhere, and made sweeping arrests in flashpoints like Deir el-Zour. Activists say nearly 30 people have died since Friday, following what has become a weekly pattern of prayers, protests, and shootings, the BBC noted. The U.N. estimates more than 2,200 people have died since President Bashar al-Assad’s regime began to repress a democratic uprising in mid-March. The international Red Cross’s leader is to meet with Assad Monday.
