BEIRUT, Sha'ban 10, 1433, Jun 30, 2012, SPA - Syria's army fired mortar bombs at major cities on Saturday killing 16 people, activists said, as world powers gathered in Geneva to try to resolve the conflict. Live stream video footage posted by opposition activists in the eastern desert city of Deir al-Zor showed smoke rising from apartment blocks as continuous explosions rang out. Activists also reported shelling in Homs, Idlib and the outskirts of Damascus, according to a report of Reuters. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that government shelling and heavy clashes between the regime's army and members of the rebel Free Syrian Army in opposition strongholds have killed 16 people so far on Saturday. Meanwhile, International talks on a way to resolve the increasingly bloody conflict in Syria opened in Geneva with foreign powers in dispute over the fate of President Bashar Al-Assad. --SPA 14:19 LOCAL TIME 11:19 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/1012063