( CNN ) -- European Union foreign ministers on Monday imposed new sanctions on the Syrian regime , urging it to adopt a U.N.-backed peace plan that so far has failed to stop the mounting carnage . At the same time , effects of the Syrian conflict are being felt in neighboring Lebanon , where clashes have killed at least seven people near Tripoli . The EU ministers froze the assets of two firms and imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on three people believed to provide funding for the regime , the European Council announced . It is the 15th time the European Union has imposed restrictions on Syria since a popular uprising began there early last year . `` The continuing violence is appalling , '' EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Monday , adding that the sanctions are aimed at the regime and not the civilian population . `` As long as the repression continues , we will continue to put pressure on those responsible for it , '' she said in Brussels . Inside Syria on Monday , regime forces suffered heavy casualties during clashes in Rastan , a city that has been pummeled by government forces , opposition activists said . The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it received `` preliminary information that three armored personnel carriers were destroyed and that at least 23 soldiers were killed . '' Elsewhere in Syria , at least four people were killed Monday , said the Local Coordination Committees of Syria , an opposition network . The dead included a child struck by random gunfire from the regime 's army in Deir Ezzor , the LCC said . The group also posted reports of the military aiming mortars and heavy artillery at the Homs village of Al-Burnhanieh . The Syrian government on Monday reported four deaths , including a colonel and lieutenant colonel killed by `` armed terrorist groups '' in Damascus and Daraa , according to the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency . CNN can not independently verify reports of deaths and violence because the Syrian government has severely restricted access by international media . The Syrian conflict is playing a role in clashes that broke out Sunday in neighboring Lebanon , where it has ignited historic divisions among residents of two Tripoli suburbs . The fighting in Lebanon pits residents of Bab al-Tebbaneh , a Sunni stronghold hostile to the Syrian regime , against Alawite residents of Jabal Mohsen , who support Syrian President and fellow Alawite Bashar al-Assad . At least seven people have been killed and 45 others hurt in the two days of fighting , Lebanon 's National News Agency reported Monday . Islamists in northern Lebanon , specifically Tripoli , have opposed the Syrian regime for decades . But as Syria strengthened its control over Lebanon in the 1990s , it also strengthened elements of the Alawite community , a Shiite offshoot , in the north . The fighting in the Tripoli suburbs is part of the legacy of Syrian intervention in northern Lebanon , according to Nadim Shehadi , associate fellow of the Middle East and North Africa program at the London think tank Chatham House . It was the arrest of Islamist activist Chadi Mawlawi that sparked the current fighting . One of his cousins says Mawlawi was supporting the Syrian rebels and trying to help Syrian refugees by providing shelter and food . Though the Lebanese government accuses Mawlawi of being an operative in an al Qaeda-inspired group -- something his relatives deny -- it may have been Mawlawi 's help to the refugees that got him in trouble . Helping Syrian refugees puts the Lebanese government in a difficult position as it tries to stay out of the Syrian conflict , Shehadi told CNN . `` The Lebanese government 's aim is to maintain neutrality and avoid spillover from Syria to Lebanon , but that 's an impossible objective to attain because if you help the refugees , you 're supporting the revolution , and if you do n't help the revolution , you 're supporting the regime . So in both cases , neutrality is impossible to maintain , '' Shehadi said . A team of U.N. monitors is in Syria to see how well both sides are implementing a six-point peace plan brokered by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan . Annan said last week that the observers are the last hope for success of the plan , which involves a cease-fire by all parties and the withdrawal of Syrian forces from populated areas . Since the cease-fire went into effect on April 12 , the fighting and killing have continued , with the LCC reporting more than 1,000 deaths in the intervening weeks . The United Nations estimates that at least 9,000 people have died in the 14-month crisis , while opposition groups put the death toll at more than 11,000 . Despite the ongoing chaos , Syrian state-run media announced that results from recent parliamentary elections will be announced Tuesday . More than 7,000 candidates vied for 250 parliamentary seats . But members of the opposition had urged Syrians to boycott the elections , saying a vote for any of the candidates amounted to a vote for al-Assad , whose family has ruled the country for 42 years . CNN 's Saad Abedine , Laura Perez Maestro and Holly Yan contributed to this report .
Opposition : At least 23 regime soldiers were killed Monday in clashes at Lebanon . The Syrian government reports At least 23 deaths , including 4 army officers . Rastan has been pummeled by government attacks , an opposition group says . Report : Clashes continue between pro- and the Local Coordination Committees of Syria factions within Rastan .