Syrian troops detain dozens, 1 killed in northwest

In this photo taken on a government organised tour, Syrian soldiers atop armoured personnel carrier cheer on their way out of the eastern city of Deir el-Zour, Syria on Tuesday.

A Syrian rights group says government troops have detained dozens of people overnight after cutting electricity in a Damascus neighbourhood.

The group says the raids took place in the predominantly Kurdish neighbourhood of Rukneddine early on Wednesday.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also says a bullet killed a man in the north-western Idlib province as he stood on his balcony. Troops were carrying out raids in the area at the time.

President Bashar Assad has dramatically escalated the crackdown on a 5-month-old uprising since the start of the holy month of Ramadan at the beginning of August. Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands detained.