Syrian violence unabated, int'l discussion goes on

DAMASCUS, June 19 (Xinhua) -- The 15-month-old violence in Syria continued unabated Tuesday across the unrest-ridden country, a snub to all political efforts aiming to solve the crisis politically at a time when the UN Security Council is holding consultations on Syria to assess the situation after the suspension of the UN Supervision Mission's operations.

The UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) has announced on June 16 the suspension of its work in Syria due to the escalating violence.

On Tuesday, state-run SANA news agency reported a number of chaotic incidents that claimed the lives many lives, while opposition activists reported shelling of some restive areas.

An "armed terrorist group" stormed a house in the Damascus' suburb of Qudsaya, killing two teenagers, SANA said, adding that a 40-year-old nurse was also killed in Ruken al-Dein district of Damascus.

The state news agency disclosed no further details, however, the kind of killings suggested they are revenge crimes, which had become a growing trend recently due to the security chaos in some areas.

Separately, two members from the military engineering units were killed Tuesday when an explosive device was detonated by an armed group in al-Azizieh neighborhood in northern Aleppo city, said SANA.

It said two oil pipelines were targeted with explosives Tuesday in Homs and eastern Deir al-Zour province by "armed terrorist groups" -- a parlance the Syrian government uses to describe the armed rebels.

SANA said the damaged pipelines will be maintained and expected to re-operate within the next few days.

Meanwhile, in Damascus countryside, authorities clashed with armed groups at the outskirts of the Damascus suburb of Douma, killing armed men, who were brandishing machineguns.

Another four armed men were killed and four others injured, some of them captured, in the clashes with armed groups between Rankous and Zabadani suburbs of Damascus.

A pro-government Facebook news page said four army men were killed when a suicide car bomb ripped through a military checkpoint in a suburb of northern Idlib province. However, the report is not officially confirmed.