Violence has surged in Syria, and Western members of the United Nations Security Council have sparred with Russia over how to stop the bloodshed from the 10-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

The activist group “Local Coordination Committees” say Syrian security forces killed at least 25 people Tuesday, 17 of them while attacking several areas in the troubled central province of Homs. The group says eight civilians died when a minibus struck a roadside bomb planted by pro-government soldiers in northern Idlib province.

France, Britain and the U.S. are pushing for strong condemnation of Syria. Western diplomats say they cannot accept Russia's draft Security Council resolution that assigns equal blame to the government and opposition for the violence. Experts from the U.N. body are due to meet Tuesday to discuss the revised Russian draft.

U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday condemned Syria's continued crackdown on protesters, calling the violence “unacceptable” and vowing to redouble international efforts to force Mr. Assad to step down.

Earlier, Syria rejected a Qatari proposal to send Arab troops to the country to stop the unrest, saying such a move would worsen the situation and open the door to foreign interference. The Syrian foreign ministry said Damascus will oppose any attempt to undermine its sovereignty and wants Arab nations to stop what it called a media campaign against Syria.

Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani proposed deploying Arab troops in Syria last week, saying the move is needed to “stop the killing.” He is the first Arab leader to back that idea. Foreign ministers of the 22-member Arab League are due to discuss the next steps in their response to the Syrian crisis at a meeting on Sunday.

Russia's Interfax news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov on Tuesday as saying Russia will not support sending Arab peacekeepers to Syria. In an interview with the BBC, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaliy Churkin called the Qatari proposal a “distraction” and an “irritant.”

Western powers have been pushing the Security Council to condemn the Syrian government for its violent suppression of the uprising and to impose sanctions on Damascus. Russia and China have blocked such measures.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the Council Monday to act in a “serious” and “coherent” manner on the unrest in Syria.

Sunday's Arab League meeting also will review a report by a group of Arab League observers sent to Syria last month to check on Mr. Assad's pledges to stop the crackdown and release detained opposition activists.

Syrian opposition activists have criticized the observer mission, saying the Syrian government is deceiving it and using the monitors as a cover to intensify security operations against the opposition.

The United Nations says violence linked to the uprising has killed more than 5,000 people. Syria says “terrorists” have killed about 2,000 members of the security forces since the unrest began.