As the violence raged, new international peace envoy LakhdarBrahimi said change in Syria was "unavoidable," although he carefullyrefrained from calling for Assad to step down, as his predecessor Kofi Annanhad.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it expected thedeath toll to mount from the army offensive on Al-Fan village in Hama province,one of the main arenas of conflict in the more than 17-month uprising againstPresident Bashar al-Assad.
The Britain-based watchdog had no details on whether thosekilled were civilians or rebel fighters, "but all 21 of the dead weremen," said its director Rami Abdel Rahman.
Horrific images shot and posted on YouTube by activists inAl-Fan showed a long row of bodies shrouded in white cloths, laid out on theground surrounded by scores of weeping men, women and children.
State news agency SANA said all of those killed during theAl-Fan clashes were from "an armed terrorist group that was attackingcitizens and security forces."
In Damascus, twin bombs exploded near a tightly guardedgovernment compound in the heart of the city, wounding four people, statetelevision said.
The bombings struck in Abu Remmaneh district where securitybuildings and the office of Vice President Faruq al-Shara are located, thetelevision said, blaming "terrorists."
They were among at least 168 people killed yesterday -- 110civilians, 32 soldiers and 26 rebels, the Observatory said. The watchdog gave apreliminary toll of 66 people killed on Sunday -- 51 civilians, 12 soldiers andthree rebels.
