More bloodshed in Syria

DAMASCUS, Syria, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- Violence in Syria Wednesday claimed 24 lives, including that of a Red Crescent relief agency official, activists and government officials said.

The Local Coordinating Committees in Syria said the death toll included two women and two children, along with six fighters from the Free Syrian Army, killed in suburban Damascus and several other towns.

The opposition umbrella organization said heavy machine gun fire and anti-aircraft missiles were reported as the rebels fought President Bashar Assad's forces on the road to Karak.

The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported Dr. Abdel Razaq Jbeiro, head of the Red Crescent branch in Idleb, was fatally shot in the head by the rebels in northern Khan Sheikhoun City.

SANA said five police officers were killed and six others were wounded by gunmen who assaulted a police station in Apamea Town.

Citing an official source it did not name, the news agency said the heavily armed attackers were repelled before they could overtake the building. An undetermined number of attackers were killed, SANA said.

The news agency said the Rev. Basilious Nassar, an Orthodox priest, was killed while giving first aid to a wounded man in Hama. A 96-year-old man and his wife were killed by gunmen in Homs, SANA said.