U.N. observers in Syria have set out from Damascus to try to reach a site where more than 150 people may have been killed, on Thursday, as opposition activists reported fresh attacks elsewhere in the country.

The team departed on Saturday for Tremseh, a Sunni farming village in Hama province.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights tells VOA government forces are pounding the southern town of Khirbet Ghazaleh on Saturday. The opposition group also says at least 31 people have been killed in anti-government related violence across Syria.

On Friday, U.N. envoy Kofi Annan blamed government forces and armed militiamen for what he called “atrocities” in Tremseh. Opposition activists said it was the worst single act of violence since the anti-government uprising began last year.

Syrian state media blamed terrorists for the massacres.