At least seven people were killed in anti-government-related unrest across Syria Saturday, as more United Nations observers arrived in the country.

The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government shelling and security force raids left at least three civilians dead, while the government said four security force members were killed near the capital, Damascus. It blamed “armed terrorists” for the attacks.

The unrest took place as U.N. observers continued to fan out across Syria to monitor the government and the opposition's compliance to a cease-fire brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan.

On Saturday, the monitors received 24 armored vehicles that were donated by the European Union. The EU ambassador to Syria, Vassilis Bontosoglou, said the vehicles show the EU's support of Mr. Annan's mission.

Also Saturday, two Turkish journalists held in Syria for two months arrived in the Iranian capital, Tehran. Adem Ozkose and Hamit Coskun were freed after Iran mediated their release.

Meanwhile, a shadowy militant group has claimed responsibility for Thursday's twin bombings in Damascus. In a video posted online, the al-Nusra Front militant group said it was responsible for the attacks that killed at least 55 people.

Syria's state-run SANA news agency said Prime Minister Adel Safar visited the blast sites, as well as wounded victims at a local hospital Saturday. He condemned the attack as a “heinous act” with “no relation to any human values.”

M.J. Gohel, a Middle East analyst and the head of the London-Based Asia-Pacific Foundation, said the al-Nusra Front group began gaining prominence only recently and its strengths and capabilities are unclear.

“This is a group that not a great deal is known about it. It emerged at the beginning of this year in January and it has a global Jihadist agenda and it calls its fighters Mujahadeen in the same way as the Taliban fighters.”

The U.N. says more than 9,000 people have been killed in violence related to the anti-government uprising which erupted in March 2011.

NATO says two men wearing Afghan police uniforms have turned their weapons on coalition troops in southern Helmand province, leaving two service members dead.

A NATO statement said the incident took place Saturday. It said one of the shooters was killed when coalition forces returned fire, while the second managed to escape and was being pursued.

NATO did not release the nationalities of the victims, but the French news agency cited Afghan sources as saying the service members were British soldiers based in Helmand.

The incident is under investigation and comes a day after an attacker wearing an Afghan army uniform shot and killed a U.S. service member in eastern Kunar province. Saturday's shooting brings the number of incidents — in which Afghan soldiers or insurgents disguised as soldiers fired on coalition forces — to 16 this year alone.

Separately, four more coalition troops were killed Saturday in three separate incidents in southern Afghanistan. NATO said two soldiers died in an insurgent attack, another was killed in a bomb blast and the last one died as a result of a non-battle injury. The nationalities of the victims were not released.

And in northwestern Badghis province, four Afghan policemen died when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb.

U.S. officials have said that many of the so-called “insider attacks” are motivated by personal disputes.

The incidents have raised concerns about security in Afghanistan at a time when international combat troops are preparing to withdraw from the country.

International forces are set to transfer full security responsibility to Afghan forces by a 2014 deadline.

On Friday, the United Nations' special representative to Afghanistan, Jan Kubis, said that civilian casualties have gone down by 20 percent in the first four months of this year, compared to the same period in 2011. Kubis would not give exact figures, but said the majority of civilian deaths are caused by insurgent attacks, including suicide bombings.

Mitt Romney, the presumptive U.S. Republican presidential nominee, drew rousing support Saturday at a conservative Christian university as he defended traditional marriage between a man and a woman.

Romney, often viewed with skepticism by the most conservative ranks of the Republican party, stressed the importance of personal faith and commitment to families in a speech to the graduating class at Liberty University in Virginia.

But days after U.S. President Barack Obama declared his support for legalizing same-sex marriages, Romney won his biggest cheers from the crowd of more than 30,000 with brief comments supporting heterosexual marriage.

“Marriage is a relationship between one man and one woman.”

Mr. Obama's new support for same-gender marriage is controversial in the U.S., where six states and the District of Columbia have laws permitting men to marry each other and women to wed other women. But 31 states have banned it, including North Carolina in a referendum earlier this month. Nonetheless, surveys show that nationwide the acceptance of gay marriages is growing and that a slight majority favors it.

But the surveys also show there is a split politically, with Democrats, like Mr. Obama, lending widespread support for same-sex marriages, and Republicans mostly opposed. Younger voters also are more accepting, with older voters less so.

Mr. Obama, who is likely to face Romney in the November election, sought this week to use his new stance on the issue to rally supporters and raise campaign funds. But he did not discuss the issue in his weekly radio address Saturday.

Instead, the president again urged Congress to follow a “To-Do” list he says will boost job creation and the country's sluggish economic recovery from the 2008 and 2009 recession. Later, at a White House ceremony, he honored a group of police officers as the nation's “top cops” for their heroism in the line of duty.

At least seven were killed in anti-government related unrest across Syria on Saturday, as a shadowy militant group claimed responsibility for Thursday's deadly twin attacks in Damascus.

The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says government shelling and security force raids left at least three civilians dead. The government says four security force members, including a colonel, were killed near Damascus. It blamed “armed terrorists” for the attacks.

Meanwhile, a video posted online says the al-Nusra Front militant group is responsible for the twin bombings in the capital that killed at least 55 people.

Middle East analyst M.J. Gohel says the group recently began gaining prominence.

“This is a group that not a great deal is known about it. It emerged at the beginning of this year in January and it has a global Jihadist agenda and it calls its fighters Mujahadeen in the same was as the Taliban fighters.”

Gohel, the head of the London-Based Asia-Pacific Foundation, says the group's strengths and capabilities are unclear.

“This could be just a propaganda small group. Its not known what kind of ground capable operational capability it has. All we know is that it has made all kinds of claims.”

Syria's state-run SANA news agency says Prime Minister Adel Safar visited the blast sites, Saturday, and wounded victims at a local hospital. He condemned the attack as a “heinous act” with “no relation to any human values.”

The unrest took place as U.N. observers continued to fan out across Syria to monitor the government and the opposition's compliance to a cease-fire brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan.

On Saturday, the monitors received 24 armored vehicles that were donated by the European Union.

EU ambassador to Syria Vassilis Bontosoglou said the vehicles show the EU's support of Mr. Annan's mission.

“This is an expression of commitment of the European Union to the Kofi Annan plan.”"

The U.N. says more than 9,000 people have been killed in violence related to the anti-government uprising which erupted in March 2011.

Also Saturday, Turkish officials say two journalists who went missing in Syria in March have been freed as a result of Iranian mediation.

Officials say the two men have been flown to Tehran.

A roadside bomb has killed four policemen in Afghanistan, while NATO says at least two members of its international peacekeeping force have died.

A spokesman for the Badghis provincial governor said Saturday that the four police officers were killed when an explosive ripped through their patrol vehicle.

And NATO announced Saturday that at least one of its service members in southern Afghanistan has died in a bomb blast, while another died of non-battle-related causes. NATO does not release details about slain service members, including their nationalities.

On Friday in eastern Afghanistan, an attacker wearing an Afghan army uniform shot and killed a U.S. service member in Kunar province.

Friday's shooting was at least the 15th incident this year in which an Afghan soldier or an insurgent disguised as a soldier fired on coalition forces.

U.S. officials have said that many of the so-called “insider attacks” are motivated by personal disputes.

The incidents have raised concerns about security in Afghanistan at a time when international combat troops are preparing to withdraw from the country.

International forces are set to transfer full security responsibility to Afghan forces by a 2014 deadline.

Also Friday, the United Nations' special representative to Afghanistan, Jan Kubis, told reporters that civilian casualties have gone down by 20 percent in the first four months of this year compared to the same period in 2011. Kubis would not give exact figures, but said the majority of civilian deaths are caused by insurgent attacks, including suicide bombings.

The top U.S. commander on the NATO force in Afghanistan has met with Pakistan's army chief to discuss security issues.

The Pakistani military announced Saturday that General John Allen flew to Rawalpindi Saturday and met with General Ashfaz Parvez Kayani.

In a statement, the military said the meeting was meant to discuss operations in border areas and coordination to avoid what it called “untoward incidents.”

Pakistan closed U.S. and NATO supply routes to Afghanistan after a cross-border NATO air attack in November that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at a checkpoint.

Saturday's meeting could help ease U.S.-Pakistani tensions ahead of a NATO summit on Afghanistan in Chicago later this month.

Greece's president has summoned leaders of the country's fractious political parties to a Sunday meeting in a last-ditch effort to form a new coalition government.

Greek President Karolos Papoulias said Saturday he would meet with conservative leader Antonis Samaras, radical left chief Alexis Tsipras and socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos after all three failed to gather enough support to create a new government. Mr. Papoulias' office also said he would meet separately with the leaders of four other parties that won enough votes in last Sunday's splintered election to gain seats in parliament.

None of the country's political parties came close to winning enough seats to form a government on its own. Now, Mr. Papoulias has until next Thursday to broker a deal to create a coalition government. If he fails, Greece will have to hold new elections in June.

The key point of contention centers on the debt-ridden Greek government's acquiescence to the demands of its international lenders and European neighbors to impose sharp austerity measures in exchange for approval of its second bailout in two years.

Samaras and Venizelos supported the social spending cuts, but Tsipras says voters repudiated the austerity agreement and that Greece is not obligated to carry it out. Greeks have frequently taken to the streets in massive, sometimes violent protests against the plan calling for higher taxes, reduced pensions and elimination of thousands of government jobs.

But European leaders have warned the Athens government that it must carry out the austerity measures or they will not send it more bailout money. Financial analysts say that Greece could default on its financial obligations and become the first country to leave the 17-nation euro currency union.

On Friday, Venizelos announced that the Radical Left Coalition, or Syriza, refused to join the Socialists and conservatives in a unity government. The Socialist and conservative New Democracy parties have proposed a gradual phasing out of the tough measures imposed by the European Union and International Monetary Fund. The leftists want those measures canceled immediately.

Greek voters punished both the Socialists headed by Venizelos and New Democracy led by Samaras for having pushed through the tough economic austerity measures. The two parties have traditionally won 80 percent of the votes in Greek elections, but last Sunday only collected 32 percent.

New Democracy won the most parliamentary seats in the voting, followed by the Radical Left and the Socialists. New polls show the Radical Left gaining strength since the voting a week ago.

Security officials in Pakistan say a roadside bomb targeting a police vehicle killed one police officer and wounded at least 12 other people Saturday in the northwest city of Peshawar.

A deputy police superintendent ((Javed Khan) told reporters that the attack occurred as a police vehicle was escorting a van carrying prisoners from a local police station.

The officer said the bomb was detonated as the two vehicles reached an overpass.

He said the bomb disposal squad reported the device contained five kilograms of explosives. He said five of the wounded were policemen and at least two of them were seriously hurt.

The police official says suspects have been taken into custody.

The Reuters news service reports the Pakistani branch of the Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack. The group often targets police, soldiers, and other security officials.

Government shelling and security force gunfire have left at least three people dead across Syria as U.N. observers launch more tours to monitor a shaky cease-fire.

The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says two people were killed during security force raids in Idlib province on Saturday and a third person died during pre-dawn shelling in the flashpoint Hama region.

In another development, a video posted online says the al-Nusra Front militant group is responsible for massive twin bombings in Damascus, on Thursday, that killed at least 55 people.

Middle East analyst M.J. Gohel says the group recently began gaining prominence.

“This is a group that not a great deal is known about it. It emerged at the beginning of this year in January and it has a global Jihadist agenda and it calls its fighters Mujahadeen in the same was as the Taliban fighters.”

Gohel, the head of the London-Based Asia-Pacific Foundation, says the group's strengths and capabilities are unclear.

“This could be just a propaganda small group. Its not known what kind of ground capable operational capability it has. All we know is that it has made all kinds of claims.”

The Syrian government has urged the U.N. Security Council to take action to combat terrorism, in the wake of Thursday's blasts.

The unrest took place as U.N. observers continued to fan out across Syria to monitor the government and the opposition's compliance to a cease-fire brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan.

On Saturday, the monitors received 24 armored vehicles that were donated by the European Union.

EU ambassador to Syria Vassilis Bontosoglou said the vehicles show the EU's support of Mr. Annan's mission.

“This is an expression of commitment of the European Union to the Kofi Annan plan.”"

The U.N. says more than 9,000 people have been killed in violence related to the anti-government uprising which erupted in March 2011.

Also Saturday, Turkish state-run media say two journalists who went missing in Syria in March have been freed as a result of Iranian mediation.

The news reports say the two men have been flown to Tehran.