1st LD: Syrian troops kill 117 rebels in southern region: state media

The Syrian troops killed as many as 117 extremist rebels in separate operations in southern Syria, the state news agency SANA reported Saturday.

The army forces killed 47 terrorists of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front in the town of Mashara in the southern province of al-Qunaitera, bordering the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, according to SANA.

Another 70 rebels were killed in separate operations in the countryside of the southern province of Daraa, said SANA, adding that the clashes in Daraa took place in the towns of Ebta and Dael.

Meanwhile, three people were killed and 11 others wounded when the rebels fired mortar rounds on residential areas in the capital Damascus Saturday.

Rebels in the eastern countryside of Damascus have threatened recently that they would rain down the capital with mortars and katyusha rockets in retaliation to the government troops' shelling of rebel-held areas.

On the opposition side, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday that 84 people, including 18 rebels, were killed a day earlier in several parts of Syria during shelling or clashes with the government troops.

The recent flare of violence comes as the Syrian government and the political opposition forces are bracing to meet in Moscow to discuss the prospects of a possible political solution to the long-running conflict. Endit