3 people killed by armed groups in central Syria

Armed groups killed Friday three people including a soldier in the central cities of Homs and Hama, as some Syrian cities witnessed anti-government rallies, private Sham FM and the official SANA news agency reported. Two gunmen were killed during the shooting, said SANA, adding that those groups launched their attacks on the behest of the pan- Arab Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya TV stations. The agency quoted what it described as "media sources" as denying Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya media reports of the killing of 16 people across Syria by security forces on Friday. Syria has been accusing Al Jazeera and other TV stations of acting out a foreign conspiracy by leaping over facts and fabricating news events. The central Homs Province has been witnessing intense anti- government protests as well as clashes between government forces and "armed groups" lately. Activists claim that Syrian troops are fighting army defectors particularly in Homs. Sporadic reports of defections have emerged lately, as activists have been posting online videos picturing alleged army defectors calling on other fellow soldiers to join what they called the "Free Syrian Army," which, according to the videos, was formed to fight Syrian security forces and the pro-government gunmen known as "Shabiha" that allegedly attacked and killed opposition protestors. Homs, Syria's third largest city which located some 160 kilometers north of the capital Damascus, has been a hotbed of protests since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad' s government began in mid-March. Meanwhile, an official source in the northern Aleppo Province was quoted by SANA as saying that Aleppo is calm, denying what Al Jazeera said about military airplanes hovering over the city that witnessed a pro-government demonstration on Wednesday, with about a million and a half of people rallying to show support to Assad, according to SANA. In related incidents Friday, task forces dismantled four explosive devices in the northern Idlib Province, according to a Sham FM report. In Hama, the report said an explosive device went off and another one was dismantled by specialized experts. Syria has been wracked by more than seven-month-old unrest which it blames on foreign conspiracy and foreign thugs.