Seven peace workers killed in Syria

Pro-government gunmen in Syria have killed seven members of a local reconciliation committee in the central province of Homs, activists said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the men, including two retired army officers, were Sunni Muslims working to convince gunmen to drop their weapons and return to normal life.

They were killed in the village of Hajar Abyad, where residents are known to be regime supporters.

The killing comes four days after rebels attacked a nearby army checkpoint, killing seven including members of the military.

An amateur video showed the seven covered in sheets and each had his name on his chest. They appeared to have been tortured. The video appeared genuine and corresponded to other AP reporting on the events depicted.

The Observatory said the dead included two retired army officers, a mosque preacher and a former mayor.

Meanwhile, troops shot dead nine people including a child at an army checkpoint in the suburb of Qarah in Damascus.

It was not clear whether those killed were fighters or civilians. An amateur video showed several dead men and a boy with a bloodied face. The dead appeared to have suffered bullet wounds, some to the head.

The latest killings coincide with an offensive by president Bashar Assad’s troops in the capital and its surrounding suburbs, as well as in the strategic province surrounding Homs.

Assad’s troops have captured several nearby rebel-held areas in recent weeks including the towns of Qusair and Talkalkh near the border with Lebanon. Late last month, they launched an attack to try to capture rebel-held areas of Homs, Syria’s third largest city.

They have also made headway against fighter brigades on the edge of Damascus and eastern suburbs.