At least 3,500 people have now been killed in Syria since protests against the government began in mid-March, the UN said today.
A spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said the total was a conservative figure based on “credible sources on the ground” although the agency itself has no one posted in the country.
The figure includes 19 killed on Sunday during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, also known as the Festival of Sacrifice.
The government has largely sealed off the country from foreign journalists and prevented independent reporting, but amateur videos posted online and details gathered by activist groups have been filtering out.
Elsewhere, the UN say Syrian troops are using tanks and heavy weaponry to attack Homs, describing the situation in the city's Bab Amr neighborhood as "particularly appalling."
Homs, Syria's third-largest city and a focus for anti- government protests that erupted eight months ago, has been under siege for seven days, with residents deprived of food, water and medical supplies, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said today.
Homs-based Salim al-Homsi said a man and a woman were killed by security forces’ fire in the neighbourhood of Baba Amr.
Troops the day before had stormed the southern and western parts of the district, a stronghold for anti-government military defectors who have resisted the week-long government offensive in Homs.
Syrian troops have control of large sections of the district but are still conducting raids and operations in other areas.
AP