BEIRUT (AP) — A government rocket attack killed at least 12 people in a village in central Syria today, while rebels battled regime forces over two key military bases in the northwest where government troops broke an opposition siege last week, activists said.

The fighting in both places ties into efforts by President Bashar Assad’s military to reverse rebel advances that have left vast stretches of northern Syria in the hands of opposition fighters. The government is also eager to shore up supply lines to its forces stretched thin by the 2- year-old fight against a relentless rebellion in a conflict that has killed more than 70,000.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rockets struck the village of Eastern Buwaydah outside of Homs, and said two children and three women were among those killed. Observatory director Rami Abdul-Rahman said rebels and government forces also engaged in heavy fighting nearby.

The Times Record Sustaining Sponsor
We believe a community must be informed to thrive. bowdoin.edu