Rights Group: 100 Executed In Syria's Homs

More than 100 civilians reportedly were executed near the central Syrian city of Homs during a government military operation earlier this week.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the "massacre" happened on January 15 when the Syrian Army swept though farmlands north of Homs where refugees were sheltering.

The activist group said many of the 106 victims were women and children and that they were burned to death in their homes, shot, or stabbed.

The observatory's chief, Rami Abdelrahman, said entire families were killed.

The information could not be independently verified.

Syrian state media reported an operation had taken place against "gunmen" near Homs.

The United Nations estimates at least 60,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict since the unrest started in March 2011.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP