Syrian forces kill 16 more civilians

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DAMASCUS, Nov 10 (AFP): Syrian troops killed 16 civilians Wednesday, five of whom were attending a funeral in Damascus and were caught up in the regime's continuing crackdown on dissent, a human rights group said. Starting at dawn, when the crackle of gunfire could be heard sustained for half an hour, the death toll steadily rose through the day. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said: "Six civilians were killed in the Damascus neighbourhood of Barzeh, five of whom were slain by security forces who fired on the funeral of a young man. "Three other civilians perished under the bullet of the regime's forces at Inkhel, in the southern Daraa region, and seven protesters were wounded in the neighbouring locality of Jassem who were protesting against the repression," it added. The continuing killing -- which Tuesday resulted in another 20 bodies -- has increased international anger at Syria which only last week signed up to an Arab League peace plan that called for an end to violence. Under the plan, Damascus would also release those detained for protesting, and withdraw all Syrian forces from towns and cities. It says it has already released more than 500. But since signing the Arab roadmap, up to Tuesday according to the United Nations, Syrian forces have killed another 60 people, adding to the UN estimate of 3,500 who have died in the crackdown on protests which erupted in mid-March. The opposition Syrian National Council -- an umbrella body grouping most of the pro-democracy currents -- has urged the Arab League "to take a strong and effective position against the Syrian regime commensurate with the dangerous development of the situation in Syria, especially in... Homs." It wants the League to freeze Syria's membership, impose economic and diplomatic sanctions, and seek the referral of allegations of genocide and other human rights violations by the regime to the International Criminal Court.