At Least 24 Dead as Red Cross Chief Starts Syria Mission

At least 24 people died in violence across Syria on Sunday, activists and state media said, as the visiting Red Cross chief sought access to those detained in five months of anti-regime protests.

The Local Coordination Committees (LCC), which groups anti-regime activists on the ground, said 12 people were killed in various operations by security forces across the country.

The security forces encircled hospitals "to prevent the wounded from being brought in for treatment," it charged.

The state news agency SANA also gave a toll of 12 dead -- including six troops -- when an "armed terrorist group" ambushed a bus in central Syria.

LCC spokesman Omar Idlibi said a woman was among the 12 people killed.

Idlibi said "four martyrs fell in Karnaz near the (central) town of Maharda" while the others, including the woman, were killed in Idlib province.

"Two martyrs fell in Khan Sheikhoun, three in Tahtaya, one in Jableh and a woman died from gunshots in Saraqeb as the security forces carried out security operations," Idlibi said about districts in Idlib.

"Another person was killed when security forces opened fire on a bus in the city of Idlib."

He said the operations in Idlib were aimed at tracking an attorney general who announced in a disputed video message on Wednesday that he was quitting to protest the deaths and arrests of protesters and dissidents.

On Friday, SANA said gunmen in Khan Sheikhoun had kidnapped a corporal with Syria's internal security services, Wael Ali.

The LCC added a woman was shot dead in Maaret al-Numan in an operation to arrest her husband, who was wounded along with three other family members.

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) chief Jakob Kellenberger flew into Damascus on Saturday for talks with President Bashar al-Assad over access to prisoners and areas of unrest.

According to activists, 27 people were killed in operations by the army and security services across Syria on Friday and Saturday.

The latest bloodshed came as European ministers warned of more sanctions in addition to an oil embargo over Syria's defiance of mounting international calls to halt a deadly crackdown on anti-Assad protests.

More than 2,200 people have been killed in Syria since almost daily protests began on March 15, according to the United Nations, while human rights groups say more than 10,000 people are behind bars.

Apart from the oil embargo which went into effect on Saturday, the EU expanded a list of around 50 people, including Assad, targeted by an assets freeze and travel ban.

The ICRC delegation chief in Damascus said Kellenberger would stay in Syria until Monday afternoon and meet with Assad, Prime Minister Adel Safar and Foreign Minister Walid Muallem.

His office said that during a previous visit in June "an understanding was reached" for "enhanced access to areas of unrest, and negotiations would take place concerning ICRC visits to detainees."

Asked about the possibility of visiting detainees, the ICRC delegation chief in Damascus, Marianne Gasser, said: "We are confident that we will be able to start visiting people detained by the interior ministry."