Seven dead as Syria coastal province pounded for second day The Syrian army continued its offensive against rebel positions in the Mediterranean province of Latakia on Wednesday. For a second day, government helicopters and tanks attacked insurgents in several towns. Activists said at least seven people were killed. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that rebels seized control of police and intelligence buildings in the Latakian town of Selma before army reinforcements arrived. On Tuesday more than 35 people were killed in the same coastal province, according to activists, who claimed at least 26 of them were regime soldiers. Meanwhile Syrian forces killed a Lebanese man and wounded at least two others in a gunfight on the Lebanese-Syrian border near the town of Arsal, according to Lebanese security sources. New video footage emerged which purportedly shows the aftermath of an incursion into the town of Taftanaz, in Idlib province. Locals estimate that two thirds of the town's 15,000 people have left due to the government's bombardment. Mass graves have been created for those killed with handwritten notes to identify the dead. More about: Armed conflicts, Bashar al-Assad, Ceasefire, Syria, Syrian army