Eight villagers were injured when tank shells and heavy mortars fell for three hours on Tal Minnij and Maarshamsheh and surrounding farmland, the activists said.
Army defectors had earlier attacked a building housing security forces near army depots in the Wadi al-Deif area on the edge of the town of Maarat al-Numaan, 290 km (180 miles) north of Damascus, they said.
Until now, Syrian troops have mostly been using heavy machineguns and anti-aircraft guns, employed as a ground weapon, on restless cities and towns to try to put down an eight-month uprising against Assad`s rule. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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