At least 15 summarily executed by Syrian regime

Beirut: At least 15 civilians were "summarily executed" by regime forces in a neighbourhood of the central Syrian city of Homs overnight, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Wednesday.

"After regime forces raided the neighbourhood of Shammas, 15 civilians were found summarily executed," Rami Abdul Rahman, head of the Britain-based watchdog told AFP, qualifying the killings a "massacre."

The executions came one day after regime forces were accused of committing another massacre in Khan Shaikhoun in north-west Idlib, when they opened fire on a funeral procession and reportedly killed 20 people.

Also, it was reported that troops opened fire on a refugee camp in southern Syria on Wednesday, killing at least three people including a child, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The camp in Daraa province houses Palestinian refugees and Syrians displaced from the occupied Golan Heights, the Observatory's Rami Abdul Rahman told AFP.

Blasts and gunfire were also heard early on Wednesday in Daraa city, the Observatory said in a statement, without giving further details.

Regime forces also killed a young man during a raid on Mleiha Al Aatsh village in Daraa, the Britain-based watchdog said. Six men were arrested during the raid, the statement added.

Khan Shaikhun in north-western Idlib province has been under heavy machinegun fire since the morning, the Observatory said, a day after it reported regime troops "massacred" 20 people during a funeral procession in the town.

During the funeral, a convoy of UN truce observers came under bomb attack in Khan Shaikhun, damaging three vehicles but causing no casualties, the UN said.

The UN observer team which came under bomb attack in Khan Shaikhun were forced to stay the night with anti-regime activists in the north-west Syrian town, an activist said on Wednesday.

Witnessed death

"The monitors had to stay behind after their car was damaged by the blast," said Khan Shaikhun-based activist Abu Hammam.

The monitors were safe after having witnessed "death with their own eyes" on Tuesday as regime forces gunned down mourners in a funeral procession, Abu Hammam told AFP.

"The monitors who spent the night with us in Khan Shaikhun were from Yemen, Brazil, Bangladesh, Denmark, Morocco and Holland," said Abu Hammam. "Two others managed to flee just after the blast, but these six stayed behind."

The watchdog updated its toll of people killed in Syria on Tuesday to 64, including two rebel fighters and 11 regular army soldiers.

The bloodshed comes despite a truce brokered by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan as part of a six-point plan aimed at ending violence that has swept Syria since March 2011, when the uprising against President Bashar Al Assad began.