Dozens of people, including army personnel, were killed Wednesday in Syria as the country was mulling allowing in foreign observers as the Arab League (AL) demanded, local media and activist groups said.

The Local Coordination Committees, a key Syrian activist network, said that 13 people were killed Wednesday "by security forces" in different parts of Syria, including the central province of Homs, the southern province of Daraa, and the suburb of the country's capital Damascus.

Another activist group, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said that eight Syrian army personnel were also killed Wednesday in an attack on their checkpoint in a suburban area of the central Hama province. The attack was carried out by armed men believed to be defectors from the government forces.

The activists' reports could not be independently verified with the absence of an official reaction.

Meanwhile, the private al-Watan newspaper reported Thursday that two rocket-propelled grenades were launched at the air intelligence headquarters in Damascus' suburb of Harasta early Wednesday, causing only material damage.

The paper said the security personnel and army members chased the attackers, but the latter managed to flee the scene.

An alleged group of army defectors, the so-called Free Syrian Army, reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.

At a meeting held Wednesday in Morocco, the AL decided to give Syria a three-day deadline to end its "repression" on protestors and allow in foreign observers.

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim al-Thani said at the meeting that the AL had sent the draft agreement on observers to Syrian government on Wednesday, threatening that Syria would face sanctions if it did not cooperate.

The recently recalled Syrian ambassador to the United States, Imad Mustafa, told Lebanese al-Manar TV Thursday that his country was mulling accepting the AL calls.

Syria has been in unrest for about eight months. Foreign reports said 3,500 Syrians had been killed since the anti- government protests erupted in March, while Syrian government said hundreds of security and army personnel were killed by armed groups backed by a foreign conspiracy with the aim of toppling the current Syrian government.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet