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

BEIRUT. December 21. KAZINFORM Almost 200 people have died in two days of clashes in Syria, activists say, as the violence there intensifies; BBC reported.

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.

The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says the swelling violence could be Syrian authorities "clearing up unfinished business" ahead of the arrival of the Arab League monitors - or it could be unrelated.

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