DAMASCUS: Syrian forces were accused Wednesday of summarily executing 15 civilians, as members of a UN team of observers were evacuated from a shelled town the day after a bomb blast hit their convoy.
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, however, accused the West of ignoring violence by "terrorists" and said he would demand an explanation from Annan when he visits Damascus later this month.
"After regime forces raided the neighbourhood of Shammas (in the central city of Homs), 15 civilians were found summarily executed," Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP, in what he branded a massacre.
The overnight killings came a day the Observatory accused troops of another massacre in the town of Khan Sheikhun, in the northwestern province of Idlib, when they opened fire on a funeral procession and reportedly killed 20 people.
At least 12 more people were killed in incidents around the country on Wednesday, the Observatory said, while another four died of wounds suffered during the funeral in Khan Sheikhun. (AFP)