By Agencies

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Syrian security forces appear to be continuing an offensive on army defectors in the northwestern province of Idlib in which activists say about 250 people, including a large number of civilians, have been killed over a period of 48 hours.

The Syrian National Council, the umbrella group representing opponents of President Bashar al-Assad's government, on Wednesday called for "immediate action" by the Arab League and the UN Security Council to condemn and halt what it called "horrific massacres" conducted by Syrian forces in Idlib and other areas.
 
Civilians bodies 'burnt and beheaded'
 
Reports of violence are difficult to verify because communications to the region have mostly been shut down. Many people in the province also lack electricity and water, according to activists.
 
Alaa El Din Al Youssef, a Syrian opposition member in Idlib, described the government's attack on the area of Jabal al-Zawiya on Tuesday as a "massacre".
 
"Civilians were surrounded by security forces who killed 100 of us. The corpses of those killed were left in the streets and the mosques and we are not allowed to bury any of them."

"Some of those killed cannot be recognised. Some were burnt and some beheaded with their hands tied. We are really scared because the area might be stormed once again."
 
The Syrian army said it had completed its military operation in Jabal al-Zawiya after tens of people were killed in clashes with "armed men".
 
The latest fighting comes as the Arab League prepares to send a team of observers to Syria on Thursday as part of an effort to halt the violence.
 
Syria agreed to the move on Monday after the Arab group threatened to submit the issue to the UN Security Council.
 
Ahmed bin Helli, the League's deputy secretary-general, said he hoped the mission would enable a resolution to the crisis to be found without any need for international intervention.
 
But Khodr said the SNC's latest statement suggested they had lost patience with the Arab League initiative.
 
"The SNC now thinks the Arab League should work on ways to topple the government, and not work on peace plans because for them that is no longer on the table," she said.
 
France denounced what it said was an "unprecedented massacre," and urged Russia to accelerate talks for a UN Security Council resolution on the crisis.
 
French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said: "Everything must be put in motion to end this murderous spiral into which Bashar al-Assad is dragging his people, deeper each day."
 
Russia has proposed a Security Council resolution that would denounce violence from both sides.
 
France has called this "unacceptable," seeking instead a resolution that would directly pin the blame for the violence on the authorities and threaten strong international sanctions on Damascus.