A team of U.N. observers gears up in Damascus on Sunday morning.<br/> <br />They're preparing to head to Qatana - a suburb of the Syrian capital where violence is thought to be ongoing.<br/> <br />The excursion comes a day after a U.N. team visited the Qaboun neighbourhood on Saturday to assess damage caused by four shells that hit a power station on Friday.<br/> <br />The Syrian capital has largely escaped the brunt of the conflict but its opposition members remain active.<br/> <br />According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 18 people, including 12 women and children, were killed overnight by shelling in the southern town of Deraa.<br/> <br />The deaths are the latest in a 15-month government crackdown on pro-democracy protests that has killed around 10,000 people, according to the United Nations.<br/> <br />Travis Brecher, Reuters
