Fighting Precedes Scheduled Start of Syria Truce Activists say heavy fighting has preceded the dawn start of a proposed truce in Syria's bloody 19-month civil war. Battles were still in progress at daybreak Friday, the beginning of a four-day Muslim holiday that was to coincide with the cease-fire. Mediator Lakhdar Brahimi proposed the truce. The Syrian regime accepted it but said it would respond to rebel attacks. Some rebel groups said they would abide by the cease-fire. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists, says the latest clashes took place in the central province of Homs, in Deir el-Zour in the country's east and in the city of Aleppo. At least four rebels were killed and six soldiers were wounded in overnight fighting, the Observatory said.