Reports from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Monday indicate a suicide attack on a military post in the Syrian province of Hama has killed 50 government troops.

"The post, located at the Center for Rural Development, is the largest gathering place for troops and pro-regime militiamen in the region," the Observatory, which is based in Britain, said on Monday.

The Observatory's claim is difficult to verify. Syrian state media also reported that a suicide attack had taken place but placed the death toll at two civilians.

According to the Observatory, a member of the Nusra Front carried out the attack. The Nusra Front is an organization of al Qaeda-inspired, ultra-orthodox Salafist Muslims that has claimed responsibility for suicide bombings in Syria in the past.

Airstrikes against Syrian rebels also reportedly continued in border regions with Turkey on Monday, with 20 rebels in the Idlib province reported killed by the Observatory.

Closing ranks

Meanwhile, the Syrian National Council, which is made up of various opposition activists and political parties in Syria, agreed on Monday to expand its membership to make the body more representative of Syria's opposition.

This comes in response to criticism from the West - and the US in particular - that the SNC needed to be reshaped into more of a government-in-exile organization. With restructuring of its organization, it is expected that the SNC will soon expand to include an additional 200 members, making 420 in total.

The meeting, which is being held in Qatar and is scheduled to continue until Thursday, is also likely to address a proposal by Riad Seif, a leading dissident, which would unite all groups that are in opposition to Syrian President Bashir Assad.

"We will form a political leadership that will in turn form a government of technocrats," Seif said on Sunday, adding that it would not be a replacement to the SNC.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Hassem al-Thani weighed in on the plans of the Syrians to unite opposition fronts.

"Part of the problem now is that we have many oppositions," he said from Addis Ababa. "The time now is to be united... and we need one address for the opposition."

mz/msh (AFP, AP, Reuters)