Syrian villagers pulled 13 bodies from a mass grave near the southern city of Deraa on Monday, residents said, and tanks pushed into a rural border area in the latest crackdown on protests against President Bashar al-Assad. Deraa residents say hundreds of people have been missing since tanks and soldiers moved in last month to crush the cradle of opposition to Assad's 11-year rule.
They said villagers digging in farmland in the outskirts of the city uncovered the decomposed bodies of Abdullah Abdul Aziz Aba Zaid, 62, and four of his children, along with the bodies of an unidentified woman and her child. Three residents said the six other bodies found there were those of unidentified men.
It was not clear when they died, but Deraa residents say dozens of civilians were killed during the military assault on the city's old quarter. Syrian and international rights groups say Syrian forces have killed at least 700 civilians across the country since the first protests broke out in Deraa on March 18. The report on the mass grave could not be confirmed independently.
Authorities have blamed most of the violence on armed groups backed by Islamists and outside powers, who they say have killed more than 120 members of the security forces. Witnesses in Deraa said tanks were still positioned at main city junctions.
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