DAMASCUS - At least 20 Syrians have been killed by tanks shelling in the restive cities of Homs and Daraa, activists said Thursday.

According to the pan-Arab al-Jazeera TV, the Syrian army started Wednesday shelling Bab Amr residential district in Homs city and al-Harrah area in the southern town of Daraa.

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The event comes few hours after the authorities announced it had formed a committee to probe in killing a number of civilians and militants recently across the country.

According to Syrian human rights groups, security forces have killed at least 800 Syrians, while 9,000 people have been jailed or gone missing since the pro-democracy protests erupted across Syria two months ago.

The US newspaper New York Times on Tuesday quoted the Syrian Presidential Advisor Buthaina Shaaban as saying the country's turmoil was almost over.

"Now we've passed the most dangerous moment... I hope we are witnessing the end of the story," Shaaban said.