- Daraa suffers some of the country's worst bloodshed, opposition activists say
- The area is where peaceful anti-regime protests started in March 2011
- Daraa province is also home to the vice president, who rebels say has defected
- At least 170 are killed across Syria on Sunday, an opposition group says
(CNN) -- As Muslims around the world celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr, residents across Syria endured another day of perpetual bloodshed Monday, opposition activists said.
At least nine people were killed across the country Monday morning, including two children and their mother in Daraa, the Local Coordination Committees of Syria said.
Daraa province, the birthplace of peaceful anti-government protests in March 2011, has suffered a rash of heightened violence in recent days.
It is also the home province of Vice President Farouq al-Sharaa, who rebels say has defected from the regime.
On Sunday, 20 charred bodies were discovered in the Daraa city of Hirak, and 31 others were killed in the province the LCC said. Government forces "executed" 14 people in Daraa hours after they were detained, the opposition network said.
Hirak took another beating Monday, when mortars and rockets rained down on the city, the LCC said.
The latest bloodshed comes a day after the mandate of the U.N. observer mission in Syria ended, with the country no closer to a cease-fire than when monitors arrived four months ago.
The U.N. monitoring mission clearly did not go as hoped. International observers first arrived in Syria in April, on the heels of a cease-fire ostensibly agreed upon by the government and rebels. But the cease-fire never took hold, and violence soon surged.
Over the past month, opposition activists have reported more than 100 deaths a day.
On Sunday, when much of the country was celebrating the first day of Eid, at least 170 people were killed in cities nationwide, the LCC said.
Eid marks the end of fasting for Ramadan, Islam's holiest month, when Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset.
State-run TV aired footage Sunday of Eid prayers in Damascus, attended by President Bashar al-Assad and other Syrian leaders.
But al-Sharaa, the vice president, was noticeably absent from the service.
Louai Miqdad, a spokesman for the rebel Free Syrian Army, said Saturday that al-Sharaa has defected, leaving Damascus more than a week ago and heading to his home province of Daraa to try to ensure the safety of relatives.
Miqdad said rebels fighters were trying to help get al-Sharaa out of the country and into Jordan.
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Syrian state-run TV did not explicitly say if al-Sharaa had defected, but said the vice president's office issued a statement saying al-Sharaa "has never at any moment thought of leaving the homeland to whatever direction."
If al-Sharaa did defect, it would mark the highest-level departure from al-Assad's regime yet.
Such a defection would follow a stream of resignations by Syrian officials in recent weeks, including Republican Guard Brig. Gen. Manaf Tlas and Prime Minister Riyad Hijab. Like al-Sharaa, the men are Sunni Muslims who held top posts in a government dominated by the country's Alawite minority.
Andrew Tabler, a Syria expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said al-Sharaa may have defected "because the battle now has become so sectarian," with an opposition dominated by Sunnis fighting against pro-regime Alawites.
Rafif Jouejati, a spokeswoman for the LCC opposition network, said al-Sharaa's defection could suggest "the regime is collapsing very quickly."
"If confirmed, (this) represents yet another high-level official who sees that the al-Assad regime is a sinking ship," she said. "I expect to see additional defections in both the military and civilian sectors in the coming days."
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