NNA - A war monitor said Syrian government troops pulled out of the central city of Homs on Friday in the face of an offensive by armed opposition groups, but the defense ministry denied the report.

“Syrian soldiers have withdrawn from Homs city toward its outskirts,” said Rami Abdel Rahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor. The ministry later said “there is no truth to news... about the army withdrawing from Homs.”--AFP

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