Reports: Syrians kill 43, destroy mosques, dump bodies at sea (UPDATED)

From CNN:

Dozens of people have died in clashes with troops in western Syria, where government forces reportedly shelled homes in one town, protest organizers and a human rights official said Thursday.

At least 43 people have been killed since Sunday when government forces entered Homs province to end protests against government rule, said Rami Abdel Rahman, president of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

A witness in Rastan, who identified himself as a protest organizer named Abu Abdullah, said there was heavy artillery fire and that shelling had destroyed about 20 homes and several mosques.
Abdullah said the fighting has been nonstop since troops cut off the town on Sunday.

Abdullah said he carried the body of a 16-year-old boy killed in the attack on the city.
"He was just walking in the street when he was shot," he said.

I bet that the mosques has quite a few Korans that were destroyed, too.

Meanwhile:

Belgian newspaper “Die Presse” has reportedly confirmed on its website that the Syrian intelligence services has resorted to a new and innovative way to get rid of the bodies of the protesters that were killed by packing them into well locked metal containers and dumping them into the sea making sure they don’t float and expose the crime.

The decision of dumping into the sea was reportedly taken in the wake of the scandal over the mass graves that were discovered not long ago and embarrassed the regime.

The paper quoted unnamed observers as saying that the number of bodies that were dumped so far into the sea are at least two hundred and some of them were killed under torture.

UPDATE: There is a video that appears to show the dead bodies in a refrigerated truck. (h/t Joel)