At least 40 Syrians were killed in clashes on Monday between forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and gunmen in a town near the border with Jordan, local activists said, according to Reuters. According to them, troops killed 20 people -- army defectors, insurgents and civilians -- in a clash on Khirbet Ghazaleh . A similar number of troops were killed, they added.
The troops attacked Khirbet Ghazaleh, 20 km north of the border, on the main highway between Amman and Damascus, after army defectors attacked a security police bus at a highway intersection near the town, the activists conveyed.
The Syrian official media eported on Monday that two law enforcement members, sergeant major Nabih Idres and Private Suleiman Hindiah were killed and others wounded after an "armed terrorist group" attacked them in the villages of Ghazaleh and Alma, near the southern town of Daraa.
An official source in Daraa told SANA new agency that security forces pursued the attackers and clashed with them, arresting 15 armed men and killing others.
