A rocket-propelled grenade exploded near a team of UN observers in a Damascus suburb Sunday, the military said, as dozens of people were killed in violence while clashes raged between regime troops and armed rebels.
UN observers arrive in the Damascus the suburb of Douma. A rocket-propelled grenade has exploded near a team of observers in the suburb, the military said, as clashes between regime troops and armed rebels rage.
No one was hurt in the Douma blast, which came as UN truce mission head Major General Robert Mood and peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous were leading observers around the north Damascus suburb, an AFP correspondent reported.
But elsewhere in the country at least 48 people were killed, including 34 in an assault by regime forces on a village in central Hama province, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Syrian troops rained shells down on the village of Souran, it said, describing the deaths as a "massacre" and urging UN observers to deploy immediately in the area.
The device in Douma, a rocket propelled-grenade according to a Syrian army officer in the area, exploded just a few dozen metres (yards) from the UN team.
The UN observers could not immediately confirm the nature of the explosion, but urged all parties to respect the ceasefire that went into effect on April 12 and put an end to fighting.
"I think this is clearly one of these situations where it is absolutely imperative that all parties exercise restraint and do not engage in any more fighting," said Ladsous.
"There is not a ceasefire. But there has been a decrease in the level of violence... in large part thanks to the presence of the UN observers. It is clear at the same time that the ceasefire is not complete," he said.
Ladsous also reported meeting Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem earlier on Sunday to discuss the observers' mission.
"There are still some aspects that need to be discussed regarding the function of the mission," said Ladsous, adding "there were still more aspects that needed to be looked at and worked out cooperatively."
State-run SANA news agency said Muallem informed Ladsous that armed rebels have violated the UN-backed ceasefire hundreds of times.
"The armed opposition has carried out 3,500 violations since the ceasefire was established," Muallem's spokesman Jihad Makdisi was quoted as saying.
Fierce clashes between regime troops and rebels determined to oust from power President Bashar al-Assad had been underway in Douma and other parts of Damascus since the early hours of the day, activists said.
The Observatory said regime forces shelled the outskirts of Douma overnight with rockets crashing into the suburb during the day.
Sunday's blast follows several other close calls for the UN monitors since they deployed in Syria, where 260 observers are now on the ground according to Mood.
On May 16, a convoy of UN observers was struck by a homemade bomb in the central city of Homs, damaging three vehicles but causing no casualties.
A similar convoy was hit by a roadside bomb on May 9 in the southern province of Daraa, wounding six Syrian soldiers escorting them.
In Hama province "thirty-four people were killed under shelling and gunfire in Souran village while it was being raided," the Observatory said, adding that children were among the dead.
Elsewhere across the country 14 other people were killed in violence on Sunday, it added.
The latest violence came after the G8 nations said a "political transition" was needed to end the crisis in Syria, where monitors say more than 12,000 people have died in a government crackdown since March 2011.
The AFP correspondent said the streets of Douma were deserted and most of its shops were closed.
"When the observers leave, the armed men will come back to cause trouble," a soldier told reporters, in a reference to rebels.
After the blast, Ladsous described what he saw of Douma as "a city paralysed."
"People who cannot go out, who cannot exercise their normal lives, this is simply hard to accept."
Fighting also erupted during the night in the Kafr Sousa district of south Damascus and other parts of the capital which rang out with gunfire, according to the Observatory.
"Gunfire was heard in Abbasiyyin Square, and Baghdad and Thawra streets," said the watchdog.
The Local Coordination Committees, a network of activists, said the army dispatched "huge reinforcements" to Kafr Sousa in the wake of the fighting.
Meanwhile gunmen assassinated ruling Baath party official Adib Habb al-Rumman in the city of Jisr al-Shughur, in northwestern Idlib province, the Observatory said.
"There is definitely an increase in assassinations targeting people associated with the regime, be they officials or pro-regime businessmen," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.
Also on Sunday protests took place in southern Daraa province to demand the release of activist and citizen journalist Mohammed al-Hariri, who was arrested on April 16 after he gave an interview to Al-Jazeera.
According to Reporters Without Borders, Hariri has been sentenced to death for "high treason."
On Saturday, the G8 -- which includes long-time Syrian-ally Russia -- called for a "Syrian-led, inclusive political transition leading to a democratic, plural political system," as they concluded talks at Camp David.
"The Syrian government and all parties must immediately and fully adhere to commitments to implement the six-point plan of UN and Arab League Joint Special Envoy... Kofi Annan," a joint statement said.
Syrian foreign ministry spokesman Makdisi said meanwhile that Annan was expected in Damascus at the end of the month and that Syria "welcomes" the visit.