A Syrian rights group says government forces have carried out more deadly attacks on opposition protest hubs around the country, killing 17 people, six of them in the capital, Damascus.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights tells VOA that five people were killed Wednesday in the Damascus suburb of Barzeh, as they attended the funeral of a protester who was killed the day before. It says another person was tortured to death in the Damascus suburb of Douma.

Elsewhere, the rights group says Syrian security forces and snipers firing indiscriminately killed six people in the central city of Homs, three in the southern region of Daraa, one in the central city of Hama and another in the northeastern town of Deir Ezzor. The causality figures could not be independently verified because Syria bars most foreign journalists from operating in the country.

The Arab League has called an emergency meeting for Saturday to discuss what it calls Syria's failure to implement a deal to end a violent crackdown on the country's eight-month-old opposition uprising. Under the Arab League peace plan signed by Syria last week, Damascus promised to withdraw security forces from the streets and start a dialogue with the opposition.

A Syrian opposition delegation tried to meet with Arab League officials in Cairo to discuss the plan on Wednesday. But, about 100 supporters of rival opposition factions pelted delegation members with eggs and prevented them from entering the building. One delegate later managed to enter the Arab League offices and met with the bloc's chief Nabil Elaraby.

The protesters accused the veteran activists of the National Coordination Committee of being “traitors” for considering a dialogue with the autocratic government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Syria's other main opposition group, the Syrian National Council, opposes any dialogue with Mr. Assad.

The two opposition groups also differ about the prospect of foreign intervention in Syria. The National Coordination Committee opposes such intervention, while the Syrian National Council has called for international protection of Syrian protesters from attacks by government troops.

U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay said Wednesday more Syrian soldiers are defecting to the opposition because they refuse to be complicit in international crimes. In remarks to the U.N. Security Council, she said there is a “serious risk” of Syria descending into the type of armed struggle that happened in Libya's popular revolt earlier this year.

Earlier this week, the U.N. human rights office said at least 3,500 people have been killed in the Syrian government's crackdown on dissent since the uprising began in March.