Nine Syrian civilians, four soldiers killed in Homs: NGO

BEIRUT: Nine Syrian civilians and four soldiers loyal to President Bashar al-Assad were killed on Sunday in clashes with rebels in the centre of the flashpoint central city of Homs, a human rights watchdog said.

The deadly exchanges erupted in the Hamideyeh neighbourhood as Syrians were called on to vote on a new constitution, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.