Syrian army kills several insurgents in Hama

The fighting broke out in the early hours of Sunday morning.

On Saturday, Syrian forces killed several insurgents in the eastern city of Deir al-Zour.

Meanwhile, Syrian troops have cleared more areas in the northern city of Aleppo of foreign-backed insurgents.

Government troops have taken control of Aleppo's Bab al-Hadid and Salaheddin neighborhoods, but heavy clashes are underway in other districts.

    A number of insurgents were also killed in an army attack in the southern city of Dara’a.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for the UN presence in Syria after the observer mission ends.

"A continued UN presence in Syria that goes beyond our important humanitarian work would allow systematic and meaningful engagement with the Syrian stakeholders, inside the country," Ban said in a Friday letter to the members of the UN Security Council.

"Furthermore, a flexible UN presence in Syria would provide the UN impartial means to assess the situation on the ground,” he added.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Damascus says outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorists are the driving factor behind the unrest and deadly violence while the opposition accuses the security forces of being behind the killings.

The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the armed militants are foreign nationals.