Deraa residents say hundreds of people have been missing since tanks and soldiers moved in last month to crush the cradle of opposition to President Bashar al-Assad's 11-year rule.

They said villagers digging in farmland in the outskirts of the city uncovered the decomposed bodies of Abdullah Abdul Aziz Aba Zaid, 62, and four of his children.

The villagers also found the bodies of a woman, a child and six men, all unidentified, residents said. It was not clear when they died, but Deraa residents say dozens of civilians were killed during the military assault on the city's old quarter.

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

The report on the mass grave could not be confirmed independently.

Reuters