Syrian forces killed at least 23 civilians on Sunday, seven of them in the flashpoint region of Homs that has been under siege for several weeks in an operation to crush dissent, a rights group said. The latest violence came as the Arab League voted to impose a raft of diplomatic and economic sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad's regime for defying an ultimatum to allow observers into the country.
Seven civilians were killed by security forces gunfire across the central province of Homs, including one shot dead from the roof of a building in the town of Qusayr, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Further north, in the restive province of Hama, three people, including a 17-year-old boy, were killed by gunfire when security forces and troops raided the town of Karnaz, the Britain-based group said.