Rebels killed 23 Syrian soldiers on Monday, according to a rights group opposed to President Bashar al-Assad, in battles around the town of Rastan.<br/> <br />The fighting on the outskirts of Rastan followed heavy army shelling of the town, in which opposition sources said at least nine people were killed.<br/> <br />This amateur video which was posted to a social media website purports to show Monday's fighting.<br/> <br />Reuters is unable to independently verify it, due to the Syrian authorities' restrictions on the media.<br/> <br />Rastan is 25 kilometres north of Homs, and has slipped in and out of government control several times since the uprising against Assad's rule began in March of last year.<br/> <br />The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said fighting began at dawn Monday, and that rebels had destroyed three armoured personnel carriers, seized two others, and captured around 15 soldiers.<br/> <br />Rastan has in the past been a major source of Sunni Muslim conscripts who provide most of the manpower in Syria's military.<br/> <br />But officers from Rastan began defecting after security forces shot dead dozens of demonstrators in the town, and arrested many notable citizens.<br/> <br />The area was the scene of the first serious armed confrontation between army defectors and loyalist forces last year.<br/> <br />Travis Brecher, Reuters
