BEIRUT, Lebanon — Syrian activists reported a massacre in the city of Homs early Friday, the Associated Press reported. Varying accounts put the death count at over 30, which reportedly included a number of children.

Yesterday, defectors were pictured with protesters in the Khaldiyah neighborhood of Homs. The attack took place just hours later, and activists called it a "terrifying massacre," the AP reported.  

In Homs, videos posted online show dead children lined up wrapped in plastic tarps (WARNING: Extremely graphic content). 

While Syria has been begun issuing journalist visas in recent weeks, press freedom is still heavily restricted, making it difficult to independently verify the information published by activist groups and rebels. This and other videos could not be independently verified by GlobalPost.

The attacks occurred in the Homs neighborhood of Karm El-Zaytoun and in other parts of the city. Hama, Syria's fourth-largest city, was also attacked early Friday. The AFP reported that residents there heard "intense firing from heavy machine guns and loud explosions."

Citizens of Homs characterized the massacre as "racial cleansing" as the once-peaceful uprising in Syria takes on an increasingly violent nature. The regime of Bashar al-Assad has in the past championed itself as a protector of Syrian minorities and has endeavored to portray the bloodshed as a sectarian conflict fueled by outside forces.

Lebanese newswire Naharnet reported Friday afternoon that a car bomb had struck a checkpoint in northern Syria. 

Responding to criticism, the Arab League yesterday forwarded to the UN Security Council their request for a resolution calling for Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to step down. Russia, which has a veto in the council, is unlikely to allow any further resolutions to pass through the international organization’s highest body, according to the Financial Times.

The paper said that Russia has been critical of their country’s abstention in last year’s Security Council vote on Libya, which authorized a no-fly zone over the north African country. Damascus is an established friend of Moscow and home to Russia’s only foreign naval base outside of the former Soviet Union. Russia sold Syria 36 fighter jets last week, and a Russian vessel recently delivered a shipment of ammunition, the FT reported.

Al Jazeera reported that Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said the Security Council proposal, which will be addressed at 3:00 PM EST in New York, contains "no fundamental consideration for our position" and is missing "key aspects that are fundamental to us."

The Free Syria Army posted a video on YouTube that showed men they claimed were captured members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard operating in Syria. The video, embedded below, was translated from the Farsi by Al Jazeera:

I am Sajjad Hyder Ali from the Islamic Republic of Iran. I am from a team of five specialists. On the date of 24-7-1390, I and my team, under the order of Syrian forces suppressed and fired on ordinary people. We were returning from our place of operation to where we were staying we killed a lot of people in the city of Homs including women and children.

We received orders directly from Syria's security intelligence forces in Homs.

We have a request of Mr. Khameini, leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, to issue the order of the return of all forces that are here to suppress Syrians.

INRA, the Iranian national news agency, reported that "pilgrims" were captured while traveling through Syria to holy sites, the AP reported. In other news, Iran on Friday announced it had enacted a free trade agreement with Syria, the Tehran Times reported.