Conflicting 'terrorist' claims in Syria

DAMASCUS, Syria, April 27 (UPI) -- Witnesses reported fresh gunfire in Syria Wednesday as human rights activists rejected government claims troops were battling terrorists.

The trouble was centered in the beleaguered city of Daraa and came a day after Syria's ambassador to the United Nations rejected a call for an independent investigation into reports of hundreds of civilian deaths in the turmoil.

"Syria has a government, has a state," Ambassador Bashar Jaafari told reporters in New York. "We can undertake any investigation by our own selves, with full transparency. We have nothing to hide."

CNN said its source, whom they refused to identify for security reasons, said snipers prowled the rooftops and no funerals were being held Wednesday because government troops occupied the city's cemeteries.

Syrian officials this week said the fighting in Daraa was between militant guerrillas and government troops. A representative of Human Rights Watch in Damascus called the claim "rubbish" and told CNN the casualties included women and children.