DAMASCUS - Syrian army troops conducted early Thursday a qualitative operation against armed groups in the central town of Traimseh, a Syrian military source said Friday.

The source claimed that the army units interfered in upon the request of the local people, adding that many of the armed men were rounded up during the operation, one of whom is Turkish.

The army has completed the operations with no casualties, however, after storming the armed groups hideouts, many dead bodies of civilians, who had been previously kidnapped, were found, added the source.

The operation was carried out in cooperation with local people, adding that the military offensive targeted the hideouts and the command centers of those gunmen and confiscated a large number of assorted weapons, according to the source.

The source stressed the troops' readiness to protect the lives of the citizens, and also expressed gratitude to the residents of Traimseh for their help.

Those armed groups have committed murders, terrorized people and blew up residential areas, the source was quoted by the state media as saying.

A day earlier, activists' groups said the Syrian troops have massacred more than 200 people in Traimseh, while the state media said the opposition fighters carried out the carnage in order to frame the Syrian government and draw international condemnation before the forthcoming meeting of the UN Security Council.

The carnage has sparked international condemnation.

Kofi Annan, the special joint envoy, said he was shocked by the massacre.

"I am shocked and appalled by news coming out of the village of Traimseh, near Hama, of intense fighting, significant casualties, and the confirmed use of heavy weaponry such as artillery, tanks and helicopters," Annan said in a statement Friday.

For his side, chief of the UN supervision mission to Syria, Maj- Gen Robert Mood, said here Friday that "from our presence in Hama province we can verify continuous fighting yesterday in the area of Traimseh, which involved mechanized units, indirect fire, as well as helicopters," Mood told reporters in a briefing.

He said the UN Supervision Mission in Syria "stands ready to go in and seek verification of facts if and when there is a credible ceasefire."