As many as 24 rebels were killed Friday during clashes with the Syrian troops in the central province of Homs, the official SANA news agency reported.

The clashes took place at the town of Zara in Homs' suburb of Talkalakh, said the report, noting that some of those killed were Lebanese fighters.

The Syrian government has for long accused foreign parties of facilitating the flow of jihadists into Syria to join the rebels with their battle against the Syrian administration.

Meanwhile, SANA said that three civilians were killed and others wounded when an explosive device ripped through the town of Erneh in the countryside of the capital Damascus.

The violence in Syria has been running for almost three years amid low expectations for a breakthrough in the ongoing negotiations between the government and the opposition in Geneva.