United Nations monitors were shot at while trying to get to the scene of the latest Syrian massacre, secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said today.

United Nations observers have been blocked by Syrian troops from the site of a new mass killing, the head of the monitoring team said today.

UN observers have found another 13 bound corpses in eastern Syria, many of them seemingly shot execution- style, said the monitoring mission.

Thirteen bound corpses, many apparently shot execution-style, have been discovered in eastern Syria, days after the massacre of more than 100 people provoked international outrage.

Syria’s foreign ministry has denied government troops were behind an attack on a string of villages that left more than 90 people dead.

At least 32 children and more than 60 adults were killed in fighting in the centre of Syria yesterday, the head of the UN observer team in the country said tonight.

A roadside bomb has exploded in a suburb of the Syrian capital just 500ft away from a team of visiting UN observers.

In his first interview in nearly half a year, Syrian president Bashar Assad claimed his regime has captured foreign mercenaries who were fighting for the opposition in a bid to show his forces are fighting terrorists rather than pro-democracy activists.

A team of international observers was evacuated from a tense town in northern Syria today, the day after their convoy was hit by a roadside bomb, a UN spokesman said.

International observers who came under fire in northern Syria were apparently stranded in the area overnight, but United Nations officials hope to evacuate the group within hours.

Two suicide car bombs ripped through the Syrian capital today, killing 55 people and tearing the facade off a military intelligence building in the deadliest explosions since the country’s uprising began 14 months ago.

At least 50 people have been killed by two powerful explosions that ripped through Damascus.

Syria’s rebel leader has threatened to resume attacks because President Bashar Assad’s government has not honoured a ceasefire, a pan-Arab newspaper reported today.

There is increasing concern that a UN and Arab-backed peace plan for Syria is in danger of collapse.

UN observers visited an embattled neighbourhood in the central Syrian city of Homs today.

United Nations observers have inspected the site of an explosion which flattened a block of houses in the central Syrian city of Hama and killed at least 16 people, while the government and the opposition blamed each other for the blast.

At least 28 people have been killed by Syrian government shelling and offensives against rebel-held towns, activists said today.

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has said increased attacks by government forces on Syrian cities violates the Security Council's demand for an end to hostilities.

Syrian opposition activists have accused forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad of bombarding rebel areas, as a UN mission was expected to arrive in Damascus in a first step in the implementation of an international peace plan.