The reports of violence
come as President Bashar al-Assad's government and opposition forces
blamed each other for a massacre this week in the village of Qubeir,
where U.N. observers discovered signs of an attack.
At least 20 people were
killed and dozens wounded in shelling Saturday morning in the southern
city of Daraa, said the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, an
opposition group.
Among the dead, according
to the group, were women and children killed in clashes between Syrian
forces and rebel fighters in the area.
"Several doctors have
been detained to prevent them from aiding the wounded amid a state of
panic among residents due to the abuses regime forces are committing
against the people there," the group said.
CNN cannot independently
confirm reports of casualties or violence as the Syrian government has
restricted access by international journalists.
International leaders
accuse al-Assad of failing to comply with a peace plan brokered by Kofi
Annan, a special envoy on Syria for the United Nations and the Arab
League.
Annan, who has been
meeting with U.N. officials, is trying to salvage the peace plan to end
the 15-month anti-government uprising.
As part of his peace plan, U.N. observers have been in Syria to monitor whether both sides are abiding by the agreement.
On Friday, the observers
made it to the site of what the opposition called a massacre Wednesday
in the village of Qubeir, near Hama, after they were denied access a day
earlier by government forces and civilians in the area, said Sausan
Ghosheh, spokeswoman for the U.N. Supervision Mission in Syria.
Observers found signs of
an attack in the village, including some homes damaged by rockets,
grenades and a range of other weapons, Ghosheh said. There also were
tracks left by armored fighting vehicles that were visible in the
vicinity, she said.
Ghosheh said the U.N.
team found the village empty, and "the observers were not able to talk
to anyone who witnessed Wednesday's horrific tragedy."
She said that the
circumstances surrounding this crime "are still unclear. The number and
names of those killed are still not confirmed."
The LCC alleges that at
least 78 people were killed in Qubeir, while the Syrian government
blamed terrorists for the attack that it says killed only nine people.
The state-run Syrian
Arab News Agency discounted the opposition account of what happened in
Qubeir, citing in its report a witness from the village who claimed to
have seen the assault -- by "armed terrorists groups."
The government's claim
sharply contrasts with the opposition, who accused government forces of
shelling the village for an hour before militias on foot turned AK-47
rifles on people, some at close range, or slashed them with knives. Some
residents suspected the Shabiha, armed gangs that work as freelancers
for the government, the opposition said.
A video purporting to
show the carnage, was posted on YouTube. The video did not show who
carried out the actual killings. CNN could not independently verify its
authenticity.
Though China condemned
the violence Friday, its leader along with representatives of Russia and
four Central Asian nations signed a joint declaration rejecting armed
intervention in Syria and reiterating support for Annan's peace plan.
Frustrated world leaders warned that Syria is engaging in crimes against humanity and drifting closer to civil war.
"The danger of
full-scale civil war is imminent and real, with catastrophic
consequences for Syria and the region," U.N. Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon said after marathon talks Thursday on Syria.
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