A total of 13 people were killed in severe clashes Wednesday between the security forces and terrorist groups in the central province of Homs, al-Watan newspaper said Thursday.

Nine gunmen and four army members were among the dead after they clashed in the Bab el-Sebaa neighborhood in Homs, al-Watan reported.

The newspaper said that the National Hospital in Homs had confirmed that they had received on Wednesday nine unidentified corpses.

In a separate event, an armed terrorist group attacked a checkpoint in the al-Farabi district with RPGs, but no casualties were reported, al-Watan's report said, adding that terrorist groups blew up an ambulance and stole two cars in Homs.

The ongoing violence in Syria has prompted the international community to adopt tougher measures against Damascus.

The UN General Assembly Third Committee Tuesday adopted a resolution condemning Syria for human rights violations. The non- binding resolution, sponsored by Britain, France and Germany, was approved by a vote of 122-13 with 41 abstentions, including from China and Russia.

Meanwhile, Arab foreign ministers are set to meet on Thursday in the Egyptian capital of Cairo to discuss the Syrian crisis, just days after the Arab League (AL) rebuffed Syria's proposal for amending the AL's decision to send 500 observers to monitor the full implementation of the peace plan that was concluded between the two sides on Nov. 2.

The AL has suspended Syria's participation in meetings after it failed to implement the agreement.