( CNN ) -- Syria smoldered on Saturday as soldiers executed dozens of defectors in Idlib province and shelling persisted in the besieged city of Homs , activists told CNN . More than 40 soldiers trying to defect from an army unit in Idlib province were executed by government troops , according to activists from the town of Binnish , the opposition Syrian Network for Human Rights , and the Local Coordination Committees of Syria . The incident occurred at the Abu Athuhoor Military Airport when 50 soldiers attempted to defect , the network said . A captain loyal to the regime got wind of the plan and thwarted it , telling soldiers he would join them , but then informing a brigadier general about the attempt , the network said . The group said 44 were executed ; their bodies were dumped in a lake . Six escaped , the network said . `` The Syrian Network for Human Rights places the responsibility of such criminal action on the commander in chief of army and armed forces ( Syrian President ) Bashar Al-Assad , the captain and the brigadier general . `` The SNHR demands an immediate international investigation for this massacre , '' it said . The LCC and the Binnish group said 47 soldiers were killed . There was no immediate comment from the government . Military defectors pose a threat to the Syrian regime . Many have left the army because they have refused to heed orders to fire on civilians . Last summer , the Free Syrian Army , a resistance force composed of defectors , emerged . The group has said soldiers are regularly switching sides for the FSA . As for Homs , the shelling and miserable conditions continued , opposition activists said . And in the Damascus suburbs , more than 100 people were arrested , the LCC said . The bodies of two journalists killed last week in Syrian shelling on the Baba Amr neighborhood in Homs were delivered to Western diplomats in Syria , Red Cross officials said . Reporter Marie Colvin 's body was handed over to Polish diplomats representing U.S. interests in Syria . Photographer Remi Ochlik 's body was transferred to the French . The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency said the Syrian Arab Red Crescent delivered the bodies to the diplomats at al-Assad University Hospital in Damascus . Doctors there identified the bodies . Poland said it is engaged in efforts to transport Colvin 's remains to the United States . France says it does n't know when Ochlik 's body can be taken to France . Their deaths and the ongoing Syrian military crackdown underscore the hardships and dangers civilians face across the country . `` Where is the free world ? '' asked opposition activist Sami Ibrahim , describing a dire humanitarian crisis in the city of Homs and crying for international help . `` The situation is very bad . '' Dima Moussa , spokeswoman for the opposition Revolutionary Council of Homs , called the government 's relentless push to pacify Homs a `` suffocating siege . '' She said there was shelling in the neighborhoods of Bab Tadmur and Jib al-Jandali , and mortars were targeting Ashira . Food is hard to get and electricity has been cut off , she said . There was no water in most areas and civilians were using melted snow and rain water for drinking . Snipers were blanketing the city and corridors in and out `` are nearly closed off completely , '' she said . `` The medical situation continues to deteriorate and is catastrophic , and all kinds of medicine have run out from field hospitals , '' Moussa said . The Syrian government has been seeking to shut down anti-government protests for nearly a year . It has directed its firepower lately on Homs , where many neighborhoods are bastions of the opposition . Much recent attention has focused on Baba Amr , a neighborhood of five square miles ( eight square kilometers ) that endured nearly a month of shelling before rebel forces announced a `` tactical retreat '' on Thursday . The International Committee of the Red Cross has been trying to enter the devastated neighborhood for days . On Thursday , Syrian authorities granted teams from the Red Cross and Syrian Arab Red Crescent Society permission to enter ; but on Friday , the ambulances and aid workers carrying food and medical supplies were turned away . SANA reported Saturday that authorities had `` restored security and safety '' to Baba Amr after ousting `` armed terrorist groups who ran amok in it and committed murder and vandalism , turning the locals ' life into a living hell . '' State TV quoted a resident saying `` terrorists '' used rocket-propelled grenades and mortars and many of them were foreigners . `` There were Saudis , Qataris , Emiratis , Libyans and others . There were all kinds of nationalities , they did n't have mustaches , just long beards . They were masked . They blocked the streets , stopped us at checkpoints . It was true terror by all means . They had snipers all over . They destroyed the houses . The terrorists forced us to go out and joined their demos or they told us we will be shot if we do n't , '' he said . But activists and independent observers reported callous government actions . British journalist Paul Conroy , who was wounded in his stomach and leg and then smuggled to Lebanon in a six-day journey from Baba Amr , called the government siege `` a medieval siege and slaughter . '' `` I would say quite categorically that 's the most ferocious , vicious , and unnecessary that I 've seen , '' he said . `` And there are actually no military targets within Baba Amr . All of the intense shelling is directed at the civilian population . '' The United Nations estimates more than 7,500 people have died since then , while the LCC says more than 9,000 people have died during the conflict . The Syrian government says more than 2,000 security personnel have been killed in the violence . Including the defector deaths , the LCC said at least 80 people had been killed Saturday nationwide . In Daraa , the southern city where the anti-government uprising began last year , at least three civilians were killed and 20 civilians and security personnel were wounded , SANA said . SANA said a `` terrorist suicide bomber '' blew up a car he was driving at al-Masri roundabout in Daraa 's al-Balad area . The opposition Free Syrian Army said state security forces staged the bombing themselves . Car and suicide bombings , common militant tactics in Iraq and Afghanistan , have been rare in the Syrian uprising . There have been a handful of suicide bombings in Damascus and Aleppo , the country 's two largest cities . The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights , another opposition group , said at least six Syrian soldiers were killed in clashes with defectors after forces loyal to President al-Assad stormed the city of Hirak northeast of Daraa . CNN can not independently confirm reports across Syria because the government has severely restricted the access of international journalists . Protests began last March , when townspeople in and around Daraa protested the arrest of school children for painting anti-government graffiti . The government 's fierce crackdown on the protesters and the tenacity of the demonstrators emboldened protests in other cities . CNN 's Saad Abedine , Salma Abdelaziz , Holly Yan , Nic Robertson , Kareem Khadder and Joe Sterling .
Military defectors are executed in Idlib province , activists say . Shelling continues in several Homs neighborhoods , activists say . A suicide car bombing is reported in Daraa , where the uprising started . The bodies of journalists Marie Colvin and Remi Ochlik are handed over to Western diplomats .