Syria: Truce kicks in - over 100 killed, some of them execution style

This satellite image posted on the U.S. Embassy Damascus Facebook page Saturday, April 7, 2012, purports to show the presence of Syrian armoured vehicles in Idlib, Syria on April 5, right, next to imagery of the same area on April 4, left, according to information shown on the U.S. Embassy Damascus Facebook page. Syrian government shelling and offensives against rebel-held towns killed dozens of civilians across the country on Saturday, activists said, as the U.S. posted online satellite images of troop deployments that cast further doubt on whether the regime intends to comply with an internationally sponsored peace plan. (AP Photo)

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian troops pounded opposition areas, activists said, killing 74 civilians in an offensive that has sent thousands of refugees surging into Turkey before next week's U.N.-backed ceasefire aimed at staunching a year of bloodshed.

At least 15 rebels and 17 security force members were also killed, raising the death toll in violence to over 100.

Each side has accused the other of intensifying assaults in the run-up to the truce due to take effect early on Thursday if government forces begin pulling back from towns 48 hours earlier in line with U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan.

The military shelled Deir Baalba district in Homs, killing four people, the grassroots Local Coordination Committees opposition group said. Thirteen men were also found killed in cold blood in the same area, it said.

Amateur activist video showed scenes of carnage said to be the aftermath of the shelling. Mangled limbs and body parts in blankets were being loaded on a pick-up truck. A second video showed 13 men who appeared to have been tied up and executed.

No comment was immediately available from Syrian officials. The videos could not be independently verified. The government has placed tight restrictions on media access in Syria.