Syria crisis: 'Nearly 200 lives exterminated' in last two days

Jim Muir says the regime may be trying to "clear up some unfinished business"

Syria crisis: 'Nearly 200 lives exterminated' in last two days 574447390135621711

Syria's armed forces said they were ready to repulse any foreign aggression

Almost 200 people have died in two days of clashes in Syria, activists say, as the violence there intensifies.

Two activist groups put Tuesday's toll at 84 - the majority in Idlib province in the north-west.

Video has emerged of a young boy, whose body was apparently torn in half by shelling in the city of Homs.

The bloodshed comes a day before an advance group of Arab League monitors is due to arrive to oversee the implementation of a peace initiative.

The UN said earlier this month that more than 5,000 people had been killed across Syria since protests against President Bashar al-Assad erupted in March.

Damascus says it is fighting "armed terrorist gangs", who want to destabilise the country.
Surge in violence

In violence on Monday, activists said as many as 110 people may have died in fighting across the country - including 60-70 army deserters apparently gunned down by machine-gun fire close to a village called Kafr Oued in Idlib province.

Activist groups reported fresh violence in this town on Tuesday, with the Local Co-ordination Committees saying 25 people had died there by heavy machine-gun fire and shelling.

Another 34 people died in Idlib province, 14 in Homs, four in Zabadani and Jebeh close to Damascus, three in Hama and two each in Deraa and Aleppo, the group said - bringing the total toll to 84. Another activist group reported the same toll.

More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16274529

Syria crisis: 'Nearly 200 lives exterminated' in last two days

Syria crisis: 'Nearly 200 lives exterminated' in last two days

Anarcho-Capitalist Categorical Imperatives

Via AnCaps: Law & Enforced Unnatural Order