Syria: Two days of mourning called for dozens of dead

Damascus (AKI) - The Syrian National Council (SNC) opposition group called for two days of mourning for the dozens of people allegedly killed by government forces in the southern Hama province.

Syria's main opposition group wants on Thursday and Friday wants to honour the at least 80 people its says were killed in the town of al-Kubeir.

The SNC on Thursday also called for rebels to ''escalate battlefield action" to help civilians "under siege, shelling and assaults in the provinces of Hama, Latakia and Homs.''

Activists against the Bashar al-Assad government say government forces and militias killed at least 78 Sunni Muslim men, women and children in the village of Mazraat al-Qabeer 35 kms northwest of the city of Hama on Wednesday.

Syria denies it has carried out massacres, routinely blaming terrorists for the violence.

In May Syria was widely condemned for an attack that killed at least 108 people, including 34 women and 49 children, in the town of Houla in western Syria.