"Armed terrorist groups" assassinated Monday a doctor and two officers in central and southern Syria, state-run SANA news agency reported.

Dr. Adnan al-Smeit was killed by gunshots of an armed group in front of his house in the southern province of Daraa, said SANA, adding that another armed group assassinated a colonel and a warrant officer in the central province of Hama while they were en route to work.

A day earlier, another officer, Lieutenant colonel Saeed Assi, was killed at the Sanamen suburb of the southern province of Daraa, SANA reported Monday.

The recent assassinations are the latest in a series of assaults that have been targeting army and security personnel.

In a related development, SANA said some 322 wanted people turned themselves in on Sunday to Syrian authorities from the central province of Hama and its suburbs, raising the number of those who have surrendered during the past few days to 773.

The Syrian government blames the year-long crisis in Syria on armed groups working out a foreign conspiracy.

The UN estimated that more than 9,000 people have so far been killed in the Syrian conflict, including at least 500 children, while Syria says 6,044 have died, including 2,566 soldiers and police.

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