NICOSIA  (AFP) – Nine Syrian soldiers, including an officer, were killed on Wednesday by a rocket, probably fired by army deserters, in the flashpoint Hama region, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

“Nine servicemen, including an officer of the Syrian regular army, were killed by a rocket, fired by armed men, probably deserters. The soldiers were on a vehicle in Al-Hamrat village, on the Hama-Salamiyah road,” the Britain-based rights group said.

Clashes between security forces and soldiers who have deserted and joined the opposition calling for the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, have become more frequent in recent week, particularly in the centre of the country.

The observatory said that four civilians, including an 18-month-old baby, had also been killed and 17 others wounded by security forces in the central Homs region, one of the bastions of the Syrian opposition.

Several districts in the area had been targeted by rocket-fire, the group said.

Another civilian had been killed by shots coming from a military checkpoint at Saraqeb, in the northwestern region of Idlib, while a 63-year-old man had been killed the eastern region of Abu Kamal, it added