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LequteMan
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According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group, twenty-one people, including four children and six women, were killed when a minibus hit a mine and exploded in the southern Syrian town of Noa on Wednesday.
The minibus was said to have driven over a mine planted by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. The government is yet to comment as at press time.
Assad's forces are battling an uprising that grew out of protests against his family's four-decade grip on the country.
Violence has continued in recent days despite pleas from Arab and Muslim organizations for a ceasefire to mark the Muslim festival of Eid al Adha.
The British-based Observatory, which is opposed to Assad, said at least 27 government soldiers had been killed during intense clashes in Deir al-Zor over the past two days.
The group also said that 29 jihadist fighters, some from the al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and 12 Kurdish militants were killed during clashes on Tuesday in the northeast province of Hasaka.
Pro- and anti-government militias have fragmented the country into fiefdoms, the group added, with hardline Islamist rebels fighting Kurds and other opposition groups.
