Syria denies mass grave reports from Daraa

DARAA, Syria, May 17 (UPI) -- Syria denied reports a mass grave containing the bodies of women and children was found south of Daraa where nationwide anti-regime protests began.

A statement released by the country's Interior Ministry on state television called the reports inciting, The Daily Star reported Tuesday.

The National Organization for Human Rights in Syria Monday reported a mass grave had been found near Daraa but said troops surrounded the area to prevent people from taking the bodies, the newspaper said.

Local residents said they pulled 13 bodies from a single grave in farmland outside the city, including those of a 62-year old man, four children and a woman and a child, the paper said. The rest of the bodies were males, the paper said.

Syrian and international rights groups say Syrian forces have killed at least 700 civilians across the country since protests first broke out in Daraa March 18, the paper said.

Hundreds of Syrians on foot and horseback flooded into northern Lebanon Monday as heavy tank fire was heard before dawn near the town of Tal Kalakh. Witnesses told the paper sporadic gunfire was heard throughout the day and intensified in the afternoon.

The Syrian state news agency SANA said Tuesday the army captured a number of terrorists in Tal Kalakh and seized large quantities of weapons and ammunition.

"The clashes left 15 injured from the army and security forces, and a number of armed terrorist members killed or wounded," a military official told the news agency.