Civilians suffer in Ukraine clashes as MH17 probe gathers pace

Fighting between government forces and pro-Russian rebels left at least 10 civilians dead in eastern Ukraine on Sunday as an international probe at the crash site of downed flight MH17 made headway. The deputy mayor in the encircled insurgent stronghold of Donetsk said that shooting in a residential suburb had killed six civilians and injured 13, the latest victims of more than three months of civil war that has claimed at least 1,150 lives. Local authorities in the second-largest separatist bastion of Lugansk said shelling had left three dead and eight injured, while the city council in the frontline rebel base of Gorlivka reported one dead and 16 hurt in clashes there. Ukraine's military said its positions in the region continued to come under heavy bombardment, including shellfire allegedly from across the porous border with former Soviet master Russia. Government forces have made major gains over the past month and say they are getting close to cutting off fighters in Donetsk from the Russian border and their comrades in Lugansk, according to AFP.