BEIRUT: A raid by Syrian security forces near the capital Damascus killed 43 people, some of whom were tortured and executed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Thursday.

“Regime forces entered the Jdaidet Artuz district (southwest of Damascus) on Wednesday and arrested around 100 young people who were taken to a school and tortured,” the watchdog said in a statement.

“On Thursday morning after the operation the bodies of 43 people were recovered. Some of them had been summarily executed.”

The Observatory had on Wednesday reported 28 civilians killed in the raid on Jdaidet Artuz.

It said a total of 163 people were killed in violence across the country on Wednesday — 98 civilians, 20 rebels and 45 soldiers.