3500 people killed in Syrian clashes

The U.N. human rights office on Tuesday raised the death toll from the eight-month Syrian uprising to 3,500, as activists on the ground reported that fresh attacks by Syrian troops killed two people in a rebellious central city where the military has struggled to consolidate control, the AP reports.

The toll provided by the U.N. is based on figures gathered outside the country, and includes dozens killed since the brokering of a peace plan by the Arab League last week and during a major Muslim holiday on Sunday.

As the U.N. tally came out, Syrian activist Salim al-Homsi, based in the rebellious central city of Homs, said a man and a woman were killed by security forces' fire Tuesday morning in the city's neighborhood of Baba Amr.

Violence in Homs has spiraled out of government control with the presence of anti-government military defectors resisting a week-long government offensive.