Activists say at least 23 people have been killed in anti-government unrest in Syria, where the government is dismissing a new U.N. resolution condemning it for human rights violations.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says most of Saturday’s deaths occurred in the Idlib region near the Turkish border. The London-based group says clashes between security forces and military defectors left 15 people dead, including three civilians.

Meanwhile, Syria’s Foreign Ministry says a U.N. Human Rights Council resolution that accuses the country of “gross” and “systematic” human rights violations is “blatantly politicized.”

The U.N. body passed the resolution on Friday and also agreed to appoint a special investigator to probe human rights abuses in Syria that could be linked to the government’s crackdown on dissent.

On Saturday, Syria’s state-run media quoted a foreign ministry official as saying the council “deliberately ignored” documents provided by the Syrian government that clarified facts.

Earlier, a U.N.-backed study said several hundred children were among those who had been killed in the government crackdown. The world body says the overall death toll from eight months of unrest in Syria has topped 4,000.

On Saturday, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden praised Syria’s neighbor, Turkey, and the U.N. panel for taking steps to address repression in Syria. Biden commented in Istanbul, ahead of a meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Syria has contended its actions are not a crackdown on protests, but a necessary response to attacks by “armed terrorists” on civilians and security personnel.