Scores of people have been killed in Syria, opposition¹ activists² say, in a second day of heavy bloodshed.

叙利亚反对派人士称，国内惨烈的杀戮已持续两天，许多人被杀。

escalated³ in recent weeks, with more frequent clashes between troops and defectors" src="http://www.enread.com/upimg/allimg/111221/1_111221060244_1.jpg" width="304" height="171" />
Violence has escalated in recent weeks, with more frequent clashes between troops and defectors
The Syrian Observatory⁴ for Human Rights put the death toll⁵ at 47, while the Local Co-ordination Committees said as many as 78 people were killed.

Meanwhile video has emerged of a young boy, whose body was apparently⁶ torn in half by shelling in the city of Homs.

In the north-west, dozens of army deserters, security forces members and civilians⁷ reportedly died in clashes.

The claims have not been independently verified, as foreign media are banned from reporting in Syria.

The UN says more than 5,000 people have been killed across Syria since protests against President Bashar al-Assad erupted in March.

Damascus says it is fighting "armed terrorist gangs", who want to destabilise the country.

Live-fire exercises

The London-based Observatory said that at least 23 people were killed in clashes between army deserters（逃兵，背弃者） and the security forces in the north-western province of Idlib on Tuesday.

It said that dozens of civilians remained besieged⁸（包围） by an army offensive in two villages in the Jabal al-Zawiya area.

The group also cited defectors（背叛者） as saying that 100 of their colleagues were "killed or wounded between the villages", the AFP news agency reported.

The LCC put the death toll in Idlib at 59.

Both groups also reported deaths in Homs, Hama and Deraa.

Video footage emerged on Tuesday, allegedly showing the body of a young boy torn in half in the ruins of two houses hit by army shelling in Homs.

Meanwhile, Syria's air and naval⁹ forces conducted live-fire manoeuvres（策略） aimed testing their readiness to repulse¹⁰ "any aggression¹¹ against the homeland," the official Sana news agency reported.

On Monday, more than 70 soldiers were shot dead after deserting their positions in Idlib, activists said.