Syrian forces killed at least eight civilians on Sunday, six of them in the flashpoint region of Homs where they have been laying siege for weeks in a bid to crush dissent, a rights group said.
The latest violence came as the Arab League prepared to vote on a set of diplomatic and economic sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad's regime for defying an ultimatum to allow in observers.
Security forces killed one person during a raid in Bayyada district of Homs city, and another civilian was shot dead when fired upon from the roof of a building in the town of Qusayr, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Four civilians were also killed in Al-Khalidiyeh when troops and security forces raided the neighbourhood of Homs city, said the Britain-based watchdog.
"Several people were wounded, some seriously and the death toll could rise," it added.
Near Damascus, a 14-year-old boy was killed and 13 civilians wounded as troops fired "indiscriminately" and made arrests in a raid on Rankuss district, said the Observatory.
Security forces killed at least one person and wounded three others when they shot at mourners during the funeral of a man who had died in the eastern oil hub city of Deir Ezzor.
"Violent clashes" also erupted between regular army troops and deserters in the region of Talbisseh, another town in Homs province, said the watchdog.
"Two troop transporters were destroyed," it said in a statement received in Nicosia.
"The regular army is using heavy machineguns in its operations in Talbisseh in the south. Four civilians have been wounded."
In the southern province of Daraa, cradle of eight months of dissent against Assad's autocratic regime, mutinous soldiers attacked a military bus, wounding several troops, it said.
Security forces also arrested 17 people in raids on the village of Muhsen in Deir Ezzor province, it added.
At least 23 civilians and 12 members of the security forces were killed in clashes across the country on Saturday, activists said.
Arab League foreign ministers were scheduled to vote in Cairo later Sunday on imposing the sanctions, which include a ban on Syrian officials visiting any Arab country and the freezing of government assets.