A Syrian activist group said that clashes between troops and army defectors in an eastern city have left at least one person dead, AP reported. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that Thursday's clashes in Deir el-Zour also wounded three civilians. Activists said Syrian troops also shelled opposition-held neighborhoods in the central city of Homs and the nearby town of Qusair, which borders Lebanon. The Observatory said intense shooting and explosions could be heard in Homs' Qarabees and Jouret el-Shayah neighborhoods. Persistence bloodshed has raised fears that a cease-fire brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan will unravel. U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon acknowledges an escalation in violence in recent days but said he still thinks progress is possible.
