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Summary Syrian forces ambushed and killed nine army deserters in a north Damascus suburb on Monday.
Syrian forces ambushed and killed nine army deserters in a north Damascus suburb on Monday, a human rights watchdog said, as NATO ruled out military action against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.The bloodletting also appeared to spill over into neighbouring Lebanon where two people were killed overnight in street battles between pro- and anti-Syrian groups in Beirut, a security official said.The latest violence in Syria comes after a rocket-propelled grenade exploded on Sunday near a team of UN observers in a Damascus suburb, and at least 48 people were killed elsewhere in the country.The nine army deserters were killed as they were retreating under cover of darkness from the village of Jisr al-Ab near Damascuss Douma suburb, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.The watchdog on Sunday had reported fighting between rebels and regime troops near Douma, during which the RPG exploded near the team of UN observers.No one was hurt in Douma blast, which came as UN truce mission head Major General Robert Mood and peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous were leading observers around the north Damascus suburb.Heavy fighting was also reported overnight between regime soldiers and rebels in other parts of Damascus province, the Observatory said.The violence raged despite an April 12 truce brokered by international peace envoy Kofi Annan that is being overseen by a team of UN military observers.NATO, which undertook a major air war in Libya to back rebels who fought Moamer Kadhafis forces last year, said it has no intention of taking military action against Assads regime.We strongly condemn the behavioUr of the Syrian security forces and their crackdowns on the Syrian population, NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said at a Chicago summit on Sunday.But again NATO has no intention to intervene in Syria.NATO governments have come under criticism for backing the air war in Libya but ruling out military intervention in Syria, where opposition demonstrators and badly outgunned rebels have been hammered by heavily-armed regime forces.
