Activists: Syrian army defectors kill 7 government forces

(CNN) -- Syrian army defectors killed seven government security forces in an attack on a convoy Tuesday, a strike in response to the killings of 11 civilians, an activist group told CNN.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the incident took place in Idlib province in the northwest swath of the restive nation, and it comes amid growing world outrage over the nine-month-long government crackdown on protesters in Syria.



The Observatory said security forces had opened fire "indiscriminately" in the villages of Maarat Masreen and Kafr Bahmoul near Idlib, killing 11 and wounding many others.
Another Syrian activist group, the Local Coordination Committees, said a total of 13 people have been killed Tuesday, 11 in Idlib and two in Hama.
CNN cannot independently confirm reports of violence in Syria because the government restricts the actions of foreign journalists.
The affiliation of the defectors in this instance was not initially known, but one result of the stiff regime clampdown against the protesters has been the emergence of an armed opposition group comprised of defectors -- the Free Syrian Army.
More than 5,000 people have died in Syria, U.N. Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said on Monday, a figure rejected by Syrian ambassador to the U.N. as "incredible."
But Pillay, who briefed the Security Council and spoke to reporters afterward called the situation "intolerable" and said she is "appalled by the constant stream of grave violations that have taken place since the first protests in Syria in March."
The 5,000 figures includes civilians, defectors and "those executed for refusing to shoot civilians. It doesn't include security and military forces but the United Nations says hundreds of them "are also thought to have been killed."
The Syrian government, meanwhile, has consistently blamed the violence on "armed terrorist" gang members and denied any efforts to target peaceful civilians.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Tuesday accused the Syrian opposition of trying to provoke a humanitarian crisis to justify foreign military intervention. Russia has been a longtime friend of Syria.
"It seems to me that, beyond any doubt, the goal is to provoke a humanitarian catastrophe and get an excuse to demand foreign intervention in this conflict," he said in a news conference, arguing that Syria should accept Arab League proposals for ending the violence and allow foreign observers in.
The U.N.'s Pillay said Monday that more than 200 people had died in the last 10 days and "the Syrian population continues to live in fear of further violent repression."
The same day that Pillay spoke, the Syrian Observatory as well as a resident of Homs -- an opposition hotbed and frequent site of violence in recent months -- reported that a gas pipeline exploded near the city, following by gunfire and circulating military airplanes.
The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency, or SANA, played up local elections Monday as an expression of "democracy and free will." Yet the Homs resident said there was no evidence of voting in that city. Instead, this witness reported nonstop shooting and bombardments.
Pillay said Monday that "the nature and scale of abuses" indicate that Syrian forces likely committed "crimes against humanity." Citing reliable sources, she said more than 300 of the dead have been children "killed by state forces."
Several defectors from military and security forces said they got orders "to shoot unarmed protesters without warning," according to Pillay.
"Independent, credible and corroborated accounts demonstrate that these abuses have taken place as part of a widespread and systematic attack on civilians," she said.
Homs has been a regular flash point. As nightfall arrived Monday, many city residents went to bed afraid the steady waves of violence could soon give way to a historic siege.
Opposition figures said the Syrian government had warned people in Homs to stop anti-government protests, hand in weapons and surrender defecting military members by Monday night -- or face attack by government forces.
Syrian forces gave a 72-hour warning, said Lt. Col. Mohamed Hamdo of the Free Syrian Army, an opposition group of defected Syrian military personnel. Activists on the ground said the ultimatum was issued Friday for Homs.
The government has not acknowledged any deadline for Homs in state-run media, and it was not clear Tuesday morning what had happened in the city overnight.
The Syrian government denied reports of water and electricity being out in the city, according to a SANA report.
The last nine months have seen a steady stream of clashes, amid reported government push-back against activists demanding democratic elections and the end of Bashar al-Assad's regime. Al-Assad has been in power since 2000; his father ruled Syria for three decades.
World leaders and diplomats have widely condemned Syria's crackdown and called on it to halt violence against the opposition.
The Arab League announced it will hold emergency meetings this week in Cairo. In a statement on Egypt's state-run MENA news agency, an Arab League official said leaders will "discuss the Arab response to a message from Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem to approve the signing of an agreement on an Arab League observing mission to Syria with conditions."