By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) – Thousands of people have fled a rebel-held town in Syria after it was bombed and shelled in an operation that has prompted fears of a major assault by ground troops, the United Nations said on Friday. The fighting came as peace talks in Geneva neared the end of a second round with the government and opposition sides sticking to their positions and as far from agreement as ever. "Nearly 5,000 people have been killed just since these talks began," a senior U.S. official said in Geneva on Friday. Military action in the town of Yabroud, in western Syria near the border with Lebanon, would fit with the government's aim of securing a corridor linking Damascus with President Bashar al-Assad's heartland on the Mediterranean coast.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/thousands-flee-syrian-town-39-major-assault-39-000017403.html

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