Shelling and fighting in the central Syrian province of Homs killed at least five people on Saturday, including a pregnant woman and two rebels, a rights watchdog reported.

The woman was killed in shelling of Qusayr city, while the rebel fighters died during clashes in the Homs city neighbourhoods of Sultaniyeh, Qarabis and Khaldiyeh, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Elsewhere, helicopters backed by armoured vehicles attacked Khirbet Ghazaleh in the southern province of Darra, a main hotbed of dissent against President Bashar al-Assad's regime, it added without providing any casualty figures.