BEIRUT: Syrian army deserters killed at least 18 members of President Bashar al-Assad's security forces in the southern province of Deraa on Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
It said dozens of soldiers who deserted their posts at dawn came under fire from a police station in the town of Jassem as they fled with their weapons. The heavily armed defectors returned fire, killing at least 18 people, the Observatory said, adding that the bodies were taken to a government hospital.