More than 5,000 people are now believed to have been killed in the Syrian government's crackdown on protests, the United Nations human rights chief has told the UN Security Council. Idlib is known to be a hub for former army personnel attempting to flee the government crackdown on defectors by crossing into neighboring Turkey. "However, reports of armed attacks by opposition forces, including the so-called Free Syrian Army, against Syrian forces have increased," she said. Fresh clashes 
 
 Fresh clashes were reported on Tuesday between army deserters and regular troops in two Idlib villages as well as in Daraa province. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that army defectors on Tuesday in Idlib's Bab al-Hawa road killed seven members of Syria's security forces in retaliation for an attack that cost the lives of 11 civilians.
– Syria's official news agency says voters are "flocking" to the polls to vote in today's local elections—but with activists calling for a voting boycott, the actual turnout is likely to be small. Some 43,000 candidates are running for more than 17,500 seats, al-Jazeera reports. Meanwhile, clashes between protesters and government forces continue: One reporter saw "tens of tanks mounted with machine guns" open fire yesterday in an attempt to end a general strike planned by the opposition. At least 31 people, including five soldiers, were reported killed. Government forces also reportedly burned down at least 178 stores to get revenge on those who shut down their shops in observance of the strike, which is "part of our desperate action to get the attention of the international community to look at us," said an activist. The opposition hopes to keep the strike in force until the regime pulls the army out of cities and releases thousands of detainees, and AP reports that it is apparently being widely observed in certain areas, with most shops and schools closed today in the city of Homs and parts of the southern province of Daraa. But the violence continues, with at least five killed in northern Syria today, activists tell Haaretz.