Huge cyber bank heist nets $45 million in 27 countries

NEW YORK: Cyber thieves around the world stole $45 million by hacking into debit card companies, scrapping withdrawal limits and helping themselves from cash machines, US authorities said Thursday. the massive heist unfolded "in a matter of hours," said the US prosecutor's office for Brooklyn, New York.

Prosecutors unveiled charges against eight people accused of forming the New York cell of the plot, which stretched across 26 countries.

In their case, they allegedly lifted $2.8 million in cash and now face charges of conspiracy to commit access device fraud and money laundering.

Seven of the eight have been arrested, the US attorney's office said. The eighth, Alberto Yusi Lajud Pena, who was the leader and was nicknamed Prime and Albertico, is reported to have been murdered two weeks ago, the office said.

"The defendants and their co-conspirators participated in a massive 21st century bank heist that reached across the Internet and stretched around the globe," US Attorney Loretta Lynch said in a statement.

"In the place of guns and masks, this cybercrime organization used laptops and the Internet."

The type of heist is known to criminals as an "unlimited operation" and two were allegedly carried out: first on December 22 last year and again on February 19-20 this year.

In the initial stage, taking several months, sophisticated hackers allegedly infiltrated credit card processors' computer networks, looking into databases of prepaid debit cards, a tool used often by employers and aid organizations.

Breaking into the system, the hackers eliminated withdrawal limits imposed by banks.

Next, the hackers cybergang distributed the debit card numbers to its street associates called "cashers," who loaded other magnetic stripe cards, like gift cards, with the stolen data.

Finally, the cashers were given stolen PIN numbers and sent to harvest the loot, going from ATM to ATM and withdrawing as much as cash as they could for the organization.

In the first alleged raid, hackers targeted RAKABANK in the United Arab Emirates. After manipulating the withdrawal limits, casher gangs worldwide hit the ATMs, conducting some 4,500 transactions worth $5 million across about 20 countries.

In the second attack, US prosecutors say, the group broke into the Bank of Muscat based in Oman. Then in the space of 10 hours, casher cells in 24 countries conducted some 36,000 transactions, withdrawing $40 million from ATMs.

The New York cell, the US attorney's office says, took $400,000 in the first raid and $2.4 million on the second, when it made some 3,000 ATM withdrawals.

The prosecutor's office highlighted the "surgical precision" of the alleged plot and "the speed and coordination with which the organization executes its operations on the ground.

These attacks rely upon both highly sophisticated hackers and organized criminal cells whose role is to withdraw the cash as quickly as possible."

According to the indictment of the New York defendants, they quickly moved to launder their cash, opening a Miami bank account and pouring money into cars, including a Porsche and a Mercedes, and two Rolex watches.

There was no detail given on the apparent murder of their leader just over two months after the second alleged heist.

Nor did prosecutors give details of where else the alleged criminal operations unfolded abroad.

However, they gave some idea of the scope of the alleged crime by thanking authorities from more than a dozen countries: Belgium, Britain, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Malaysia, Mexico, Romania, Spain, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates. (AFP)

Three dead as fire erupts at LDA plaza in Lahore

LAHORE: At least three people were killed when they fell from the LDA Plaza while trying to save their lives.

The fire erupted at 12:30 pm on the seventh floor of the plaza and spread to other floors of the building by the time the fire brigades arrived.

An airlift operation is underway, while fire fighters are trying to control the blaze.

Could vaginal delivery be safer for preemies?

NEW YORK: Very premature babies have fewer breathing problems when they're born through vaginal delivery compared to cesarean section, a new study of more than 20,000 newborns suggests.

Based on those cases, researchers found that regardless of why a C-section was performed whether because of pregnancy related complications or the mother's medical problems, for example vaginal delivery tended to be safer.

"My suspicion is that the labor process, the contractions, that natural squeezing probably does something to clear out the lungs so that when babies are born they have a better breathing status," said Dr. Erika Werner, who led the new study at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore.

"If a vaginal delivery is safe, it's something that should be attempted," she said.

The rate of C-sections in the United States has been rising for all pregnancies, leading some to worry about possible complications for mothers and babies.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, C-sections accounted for almost 1 in 3 births in 2010 - up from 1 in 5 in 1996.

There are certain circumstances - such as when a woman is bleeding or a baby has a drop in heart rate - when a C-section is required, Werner said.

However, she said, there hasn't been much data on whether C-section or vaginal delivery is the generally safer method for other premature babies, who are more fragile than full-term babies to begin with.

Her team's data come from birth certificates and hospital discharge records for 20,231 babies born in New York between 1995 and 2003. All were born very early, between 24 and 34 weeks. Normal gestation is considered 37 to 42 weeks.

Just over two-thirds of the babies were born vaginally.

After taking into account a mother's age, race and underlying medical conditions, Werner and her colleagues found that babies delivered via C-section were more likely to be born in respiratory distress.

Just over 39 percent of them had breathing problems, compared to 26 percent of infants delivered vaginally.

More infants born via C-section also scored poorly on a test that measures overall health - including heart rate, reflexes and skin coloring  5 minutes after birth, the researchers reported Wednesday in Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Between seven and eight preemie deliveries would have to be switched from C-sections to vaginal births to avoid one case of newborn respiratory distress, they calculated.

"In general, people have thought that vaginal delivery would be preferred if there was no other indication, but it's been a question that some people have felt is still open for research," Dr. Henry Lee, from Stanford University School of Medicine's Division of Neonatal & Developmental Medicine, told Reuters Health.

It's still unclear whether there are certain types of babies, or certain situations, in which C-sections might be helpful, added Lee, who wasn't involved in the new research.

Werner said that because the researchers looked back at old records, they were not able to control for all differences between women who had C-sections and vaginal deliveries a "huge limitation" of the study.

"I was struck by the fact that there does seem to be an increased risk of some things with C-section," she told Reuters Health.

However, "I don't know if you can make a definitive statement that it is higher risk to have a C-section based on this study."

But Lee agreed that the evidence points toward vaginal deliveries in many scenarios.

"When there is no clear maternal medical reason or indication for the baby's health (to do a C-section), then the vaginal route would be the preferred route of delivery," he said. (Reuters) (GNN Int)

Japan's ANA will return Boeing Dreamliners to the air starting June 1

TOKYO: Japan's All Nippon Airways (9202.T) (ANA) said on Thursday it will return Boeing Co's (BA.N) 787 Dreamliners back to service from June 1 after the planes were grounded worldwide for more than four months.

ANA, which is Boeing's biggest Dreamliner customer with 17 jets, also said it will introduce three international routes using the 787 this summer.

Domestic rival Japan Airlines Co Ltd (9201.T) has also said it will resume 787 flights from the beginning of June. (Reuters) (GNN Int)

China probes reports of film director Zhang Yimou's seven children

BEIJING: Chinese authorities have begun investigating reports that Zhang Yimou, one of China's best-known movie directors, has seven children in violation of strict family planning rules, which could result in a fine of 160 million yuan ($26.05 million), state media said on Thursday.

Online reports have surfaced that Zhang, who dazzled the world in 2008 with his Beijing Olympic ceremonies, "has at least seven children and will face a 160 million yuan fine," said the website of the People's Daily, the Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece.

An unnamed official at the Wuxi Municipal Population and Family Planning Commission said "based on the current policies and regulations, an investigation is currently being carried out", according to the report.

It is unclear where Zhang's children were born, the report said, citing a worker at the Jiangsu Province Population and Family Planning Commission.

Both the Wuxi and Jiangsu Population and Family Planning Commission could not be reached for comment.

Zhang, 61, once the bad-boy of Chinese cinema whose movies were sometimes banned at home while popular overseas, has since become a darling of the Communist Party, despite long being a subject of tabloid gossip for alleged trysts with his actresses.

Zhang's newest project, a film to depict wartime Nanjing under Japanese occupation starred Hollywood actor Christian Bale in a leading role.

There are signs that China may loosen the one child policy, introduced in the late 1970s to prevent population growth spiraling out of control.

The policy has long been opposed by human rights and religious groups but is also now regarded by many experts as outdated and harmful to the economy.

Last December, authorities in southern Guangdong said they were investigating a family for having given birth to octuplets through in vitro fertilization, a case that sparked intense public debate about China's one child policy and how wealthy families were able to circumvent the rules.

The one child policy was meant to last only 30 years and there are now numerous exceptions to it. But it still applies to about 63 percent of the population. ($1 = 6.1410 Chinese yuan) (Reuters) (GNN Int)

First polio case in Waziristan since Taliban ban

A child has contracted polio for the first time in Pakistan's militant-infested tribal belt since the Taliban banned vaccinations a year ago, a UN official said Monday.

The new case has been detected in North Waziristan where we had been denied access in June last year, the World Health Organization's senior coordinator for polio eradication in Pakistan, Elias Durry, told AFP.

Tribesmen in North Waziristan, Pakistan's most notorious stronghold of Taliban and Al Qaeda linked militants, endorsed the Taliban ban and stopped authorities from vaccinating children under a nationwide campaign.

This has been the first case since we were stopped from vaccinating children in the region last year, Durry said. The Taliban alleged that the campaign was a cover for espionage.

Efforts to tackle the highly infectious disease have been hampered over the years by local suspicion about vaccines being a plot to sterilise Muslims, particularly in Pakistan's conservative and poorly educated northwest.

"We are worried because this new case comes as an example of a bigger impending outbreak of disease in the region," the WHO official said.

Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria are the only three countries in the world where the highly infectious, crippling disease remains endemic and infections shot up from a low of 28 in 2005 to almost 200 last year.

Durry said the United Nations and the Pakistani government are working together to reach out to the children in North Waziristan.

China April export growth seen edging up from low base

BEIJING: China's annual export growth may have picked up slightly in April due to a low comparison from a year ago, while import growth probably eased, a Reuters poll showed, suggesting the underlying momentum for both the domestic and global economies remains tepid.

Economists said the likely uptick in the year on year export figure cannot mask weakness in real external demand, given the patchy recovery in the U.S. and no quick turnaround for the euro zone.

"Recent data including Korea's exports data and global leading indicators have been indicating weaker external demand growth momentum," said Yu Song, China economist at Goldman Sachs, in a note to clients.

"We expect the sequential exports growth rate to be low. However, year on year growth is likely to show a modest rebound, due to a low base," he added.

The median forecast of 27 economists polled by Reuters showed China's exports likely grew 10.3 percent in April from a year ago, up from an increase of 10 percent in March.

Imports were seen rising 13.9 percent last month, down from a rise of 14.1 percent in March.

That would leave an estimated trade surplus of $15.1 billion, compared with a slight trade deficit of $0.88 billion in March.

Recent soft export data from South Korea and Taiwan have highlighted faltering overseas demand and sparked concerns that Asia's export reliant economies could lose further steam in the coming quarters.

Exports from South Korea, a big supplier to the global tech industry, grew by a scant and well-below-forecast 0.4 percent in April from a year earlier, which could signal weak exports for other countries in the region.

A pair of PMI surveys last week showed the growth of China's vast factory sector eased in April as new export orders shrank, offering new signs of a delayed economic recovery.

China's exports had staged a higher than expected rebound in the first quarter, which some analysts said was distorted by speculative capital inflows in the guise of trade transactions betting on appreciation of the yuan currency to avoid capital restrictions.

But analysts said the spurt in export data was unlikely to be sustained in the coming months and export growth may start to trend down from the second quarter.

"With a narrowed CNY-CNH spread and tightened customs supervision on export reporting, export growth will likely fall from the artificially high numbers in 1Q," said Ting Lu, China economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong, referring to the differential between onshore and offshore yuan prices.

China's top foreign exchange regulator said on Sunday that it would increase scrutiny on exporters which channel in money disguised as trade bills.

Economists said China's import growth largely hinges on the pace of revival in the domestic demand, which was recently crimped by the government's frugality campaign and a slower-than-expected upturn in investment growth.

China's economy unexpectedly stumbled in the first quarter, growing 7.7 percent from a year ago versus a rise of 7.9 percent in the previous three months, as factory output and investment slowed.

Despite some short-term downside risks, most economists still expect a steady and gentle recovery this year, as investment growth is seen to quicken and retail sales to stabilize from the second quarter onwards.

In addition, Beijing's push for a nationwide urbanization program to help refine the economic structure will eventually reinforce the economy's internal strength and push up import growth in the longer term.

Other major data later this week is expected to show subdued factory and investment growth probably capped China's inflation in April and depressed producer prices for the 14th consecutive month, showed, further clouding the outlook for the economy.

(exports and imports in pct y/y; balance in $billion)

FORECASTS

Exports Imports Trade balance

ANZ 8.1 13.2 12.4

Bank of Communications 12.0 13.0 19.0

Barclays 8.5 10.0 N/A

BofAML 8.0 6.0 22.8

Capital Economics 15.0 20.0 14.0

Changjiang Securities 7.8 15.0 N/A

China Construction Bank 10.2 13.9 15.0

CICC 12.0 15.0 16.4

Citi 7.0 9.2 16.5

Daiwa Capital Markets 7.1 11.2 13.8

Deutsche Bank 13.0 17.0 15.1

Everbright Securities 11.6 13.0 18.8

Goldman Sachs 11.0 17.0 11.9

Forecast 14.8 15.5 23.0

Haitong Securities 14.1 28.1 1.1

Huarong Securities 8.9 13.2 15.6

Hwabao Trust 13.4 14.2 20.0

Industrial Bank 13.5 25.0 5.0

Merchant Securities 12.3 18.1 12.3

Mizuho Securities 11.0 16.0 13.2

Morgan Stanley 9.0 11.0 N/A

OCBC 11.0 12.6 18.2

Peking First Advisory 5.1 2.0 23.9

Shanghai Securities 10.3 17.4 10.0

Shenyin & Wanguo 9.2 10.6 18.1

Standard Chartered 8.0 12.0 2.0

Zheshang Securities 10.2 14.2 14.0
----------------------------------

Median 10.3 13.9 15.1

Highest 15.0 28.1 23.9

Lowest 5.1 2.0 1.1

Prior 10.0 14.1 -0.88

> For more stories on China's economy CN-MCE-M-NEWS-LEN > More previews on upcoming major data CN-MCE-RPOLL-PRE-LEN > China's economic indicator calendar and polls. (Reuters)

141 new cases of measles reported

LAHORE: Over 10,929 cases of measles have been reported in Punjab during the last five months with an addition of 141 new cases during the last 24 hours.

According to health department officials, at least 64 deaths have been reported so far while most deaths occurred in Lahore, Gujranwala, Rajanpur, Rahim Yar Khan and Kasur.

During the last 24 hours, around 141 cases of measles were reported from Punjab, including 52 from city hospitals.

Meanwhile, Director General Health Services Punjab Dr Tanveer Ahmed said on investigation it was found that a majority of deaths in Lahore were caused by severe pneumonia and delay in reaching hospitals.

Pakistan's Amir Atlas wins Asian Squash Championship

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan ended its 14 year long hiatus having ruled the roost in the game of Squash with players like Jehnagir Khan and Jansher Khan who brought home titles and made the nation proud.

On Sunday, Amir Atlas defeated Muhammed Abdullah of Kuwait securing the Asian Squash Champion (ASC) title for Pakistan, ending the 14 year long gap between securing the top slot in the ASC.

8 hurt in blasts near election offices in Balochistan

QUETTA: Eight people were injured in two separate blasts near election offices of two political parties in Kharan and Machh in Balochistan.

Police said five people were hurt in the explosion near Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) election office in Kharan.

The injured were rushed to hospital for treatment.

In a separate incident, three people sustained injuries in the blast near office of a political party in Machh. (Geo)

JI will defeat extortionists on May 11: Munawar Hasan

KARACHI: Amir Jamat e Islami (JI) Syed Munawar Hasan Sunday said the city of lights Karachi has been plunged into darkness and that a conspiracy is at work to further deteriorate the law and order of the metropolis.

We will inflict a defeat on extortionists on May 11 (the day of upcoming general elections) Munawar Hasan vowed while addressing a big electoral rally under the title ‘Peaceful and Prosperous Pakistan’ staged here by the Mazar e Quaid.

He regretted the culture of gunny sacked bodies has confined Karachiites to their homes.

The JI Amir said the people who call themselves ‘liberals’ are actually the proponents of America. Pakistan was founded in the name of Islam. Pakistan was not made for liberals, he maintained.

He said the people who migrated to Pakistan in the post-partition era did not render sacrifices for becoming ‘liberals’.

Munawar Hasan claimed that Karachi is not just ‘mini Pakistan’ but it is also ‘mini Islam’. Unrest in Karachi affects the entire country, he noted.

He exhorted the people to come out on May 11 to exercise their right of franchise.

Not only MQM but PML-N and JI also being targeted: Habib

KARACHI: Federal Interior Minister Malik Habib Khan has said that not only Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) but Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and Jamat e Islami (JI) are also being targeted by the terrorists.

Talking to media at Karachi airport on Sunday, the interior minister said that the government would ensure to improve security for providing peaceful atmosphere in the general elections.

He said government is analyzing the situation and will improve the security of political parties. He said a high-level meeting is being held in Karachi to review the security arrangements.

He expressed hope that a good turn out in the elections is expected.

Israeli warplanes strike Syria in escalation

BEIRUT: Israeli warplanes struck areas in and around the Syrian capital Sunday, setting off a series of explosions as they targeted a shipment of highly accurate, Iranian made guided missiles believed to be on their way to Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group, officials and activists said.

The attack, the second in three days, signaled a sharp escalation of Israel's involvement in Syria's bloody civil war. Syrian state media reported that Israeli missiles struck a military and scientific research center near Damascus and caused casualties

An intelligence official in the Middle East, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to disclose information about a secret military operation to the media, confirmed that Israel launched an airstrike in the Syrian capital early Sunday but did not give more precise details about the location.

The target was Fateh-110 missiles, which have precision guidance systems with better aim than anything Hezbollah is known to have in its arsenal, the official told The Associated Press.

The airstrikes come as Washington considers how to respond to indications that the Syrian regime may have used chemical weapons in its civil war.

President Barack Obama has described the use of such weapons as a red line, and the administration is weighing its options including possible military action.

Iran, a close ally of the Assad regime, condemned the airstrikes but gave no other hints of a possible stronger response from Tehran. (Thenews)

Houston: APML stages rally in favour of Pervez Musharraf

All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) Houston chapter strongly condemned what they called the one sided state discrimination against the former military ruler General (retd) Pervez Musharraf.

Men, women, and children participated in the protest, demanding the withdrawal of all cases registered against the former president, denying bails, and adding terror charges.

Protestors demanded Musharraf’s immediate release. The demand was made at a protest organized by All Pakistan Muslim League Houston chapter at the corner of Hillcroft and Harwin, a wholesale business hub of Houston, on Friday.

While addressing protesters, an APML Houston Chapter General Secretary Saeed Sheikh said, It is shameful for us to claim that Pakistan is a democratic country when the most important pillar of the state is working with such discrimination.

We are very displeased with the way Musharraf has been treated since returning from his self-imposed exile.

Sheikh also said that Musharraf fulfilled all requirements given in constitution of Articles 62 and 63. He was not only barred to run for this upcoming election on May 11, 2013, but also disqualified for life, he added.

Sheikh further said that today Musharraf is not convicted of any crime but punishment is imposed on him as if he is guilty. Charges were framed against him in his absence from the country in the last four years.

According to Tariq Khan, APML Houston Chapter Media Coordinator, Many of the protesters argued that members of terrorist outfits have been allowed to stand in elections without any scrutiny applied to them, but the man who fought for Pakistan at the global level has been denied his basic human rights.

Pakistan legal system has allowed corrupt, tax evaders, and thieves run for elections, he claimed.

While chanting different slogans in favor of the ex President, participants of the protest demanded the withdrawal of all cases registered against the former president and release him immediately, saying that Musharraf is a national hero, and therefore he should be allowed to contest the elections.

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May 11 will be day of destiny for Pakistan: Nawaz

MIANWALI: Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) Chief Mian Nawaz Sharif has termed May 11 polling day as a day of destiny for Pakistan.

Addressing a public meeting in Mianwali Sunday‚ the PML-N chief said that development of far-flung areas is top priority of his party.

He said if voted to power, basic infrastructure would be improved in backward districts.

He said that power crisis has worsened the life of common man and during the last five years‚ PPP government did not take any step to provide relief to masses.

Will launch probe into Kargil conflict: Nawaz Sharif

Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) Chief Nawaz Sharif said that if voted to power, he would constitute a commission to probe Kargil conflict and its investigation report would be made public.

In an interview with Indian news channel, Nawaz Sharif said that no issue can be resolved at gunpoint, adding that all options including dialogue should be used to resolve the issue of terrorism.

Nawaz Sharif further said that if he comes to power, he would ensure the Army doesn't interfere in the affairs of the civilian government.

Police find clues in poll related violent incidents, one arrested

Police claimed to have detected people involved in a wave of ongoing poll-related violent incidents that are targeting offices of political parties in the metropolis.

Talking to Geo news on Sunday, DIG West Zafar Iqbal Bukhari said that an accused involved in the bomb explosions has been arrested.

He said that the accused is a former activist of a political party and now carrying out terrorist activities with Naeem Bukhari, who the police official said is a member of Jihadi group of banned Lashkar e Jhangvi (LeJ).

Bukhari told Geo news that ‘Chingchi rickshaw’ was used for carrying out the bomb explosion that occurred on April 26 at the corner meeting of Awami National Party (ANP) in Mominabad area.

He said that another banned organization was involved in the explosion while the accused involved in the incident has been identified.

He said that one accused has been arrested whose another attempt to carry out terrorist activity in Khwaja Ajmeer Nagri was foiled.

The DIG West said that teams have been constituted to detect clues in twin blast that took place on Saturday night in Azizabad area.

Lower Dir: Police seize 90,000 fake ballot papers

Police recovered at least 90 thousand fake ballot papers from Chakdara area of Lower Dir on Sunday.

According to DIG Malakand, the police have seized the recovered ballot papers and also arrested two accused, who belong to Lower Dir.

The case has been registered against the accused under section 419, 468, 420 and 471. (Thenews)

Upper Orakzai: 16 militants killed, 2 security men martyred

UPPER ORAKZAI: Security forces captured two militant strongholds in Kismet Sur and Sunghar areas of Tirah valley in Khyber tribal region after successful operations were conducted in the areas, according to Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) sources.

At least 16 militants were killed and three hideout destroyed during the operation, while scores of other militants fled from the area leaving behind a huge cache of arms and ammunition, which was recovered by security forces. Besides, two security personnel were martyred and three others were injured during the operation.

Sources said that security forces have wiped out the militants from Shaheed Sunghar, Qismet Sunghar, Sarkanay, Sheen Qamar and Shungakh Kandawo by launching operations.

On the other hand, Hangu police on a tip off house to house search operation was conducted at Azgarobanda and during the process twenty two suspected persons including militant commander Bilal was taken into custody. (Thenews)

JI holds public gathering in Karachi today

KARACHI: Jamat e Islami (JI) will hold a public gathering in Karachi where the party chief Syed Munawar Hassan and Dr Abdul Qadir Khan would address the participants.

The gathering is being convened under a banner of ‘Pur Aman Karachi, Khush Haal Pakistan’ (Peaceful Karachi, Prosperous Pakistan) at mausoleum of Quaid e Azam.

Talking to media on Saturday, JI Chief said that the public gathering would bring change in Karachi politics.

Polls won’t even change faces, system change a far cry

Tahrik e Mihanjul Quran (TMQ) and Pakistan Awami Tahrik (PAT) Chief Dr. Tahirul Qadri said that those raising the slogan of change would be seen protesting against the stolen elections on May 11 night.

Addressing a large gathering of Overseas Pakistanis here, Dr. Tahirul Qadri anticipated that the May 11 elections would be the worst thus far held in Pakistan, as it was being so engineered that it would not even change the faces, what to speak of the change of system and those now raising the slogan of change through elections finding themselves cheated would be seen protesting against the rigged elections on May 11 night. (Geo)

At least 62 bodies found in Syria's Banias: watchdog

The bodies of at least 62 murdered residents have been found in a Sunni neighbourhood of the Syrian city of Banias, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday.

The latest incident was condemned by the opposition Syrian National Coalition, which said reports of several mass killings in the area raised the spectre of a campaign of ethnic cleansing.

"The bodies of dozens of citizens killed on Friday during an assault by the army and Alawite members of the National Defence Forces in the neighbourhood of Banias were discovered on Saturday," the Observatory said.

"We have identified 62 citizens by their names, photos, or videos, including 14 children, and the number could rise because there are dozens of citizens who are still missing."

The mass killing is the second "massacre" to be reported in the Banias area this week.

On Thursday, the Observatory said at least 50 people had been killed in the Sunni village of Bayda, south of the coastal city.

"Witnesses from the village say no less than 50 civilians were killed, including women and children," the group said.

"Some were summarily executed, shot to death, stabbed or set on fire."

After the deaths, which were reported on Friday, regime forces began shelling several neighbourhoods of Banias, prompting residents to flee the area early on Saturday.

The Syrian National Coalition condemned "a proliferation of massacres that is transforming into an ethnic cleansing operation like that carried out by Serbian forces in Bosnia 20 years ago."

The conflict in Syria has claimed more than 70,000 lives, according to the United Nations, with numerous incidents of mass killings reported in more than two years of fighting.

On Saturday, the United States said it was "appalled" by the reported killings in Bayda.

"The United States is appalled by horrific reports that more than 100 people were killed May 2 in gruesome attacks on the coastal town of Bayda, Syria," the US State Department said in a statement.

"We extend our deepest condolences to the families of the victims of this tragedy."

Banias has a small majority of Sunni residents, but is situated in the predominantly Alawite region of Tartus. (Thenews)