More than 100 people are reported to have been killed in the Syrian village of Tremseh, in Hama province.
Opposition activists quoted residents as saying the village was attacked with helicopter gunships and tanks.
Pro-government Shabiha militia later went in on foot and carried out execution-style killings, they said.
According to the opposition Local Coordination Committees, at least 189 people were killed on Thursday in Syria, including 22 in Homs.
On Thursday morning, Syria's ambassador to Iraq Nawaf Fares announced his defection, following in the footsteps of a former senior general who escaped the country earlier this week.
Later in the day, Syrian forces also shelled the suburbs of Damascus in an apparent offensive against rebel fighters.
Protests held
The Revolution Leadership Council of Hama told the Reuters news agency that most of the dead in Tremseh were civilians.
Unconfirmed reports suggested government troops had been trying to take back the village from opposition hands.
Protests condemning the attack on Tremseh are apparently being held in Damascus, Idlib and Hama.
Syrian state media said "terrorist groups" had carried out a massacre to raise tensions ahead of a Security Council meeting.
If it is confirmed, the Tremseh attack would be one of the bloodiest single events in the Syria conflict.
Western nations are pressing the UN to threaten Damascus with sanctions as it considers renewing the mandate for its observer mission in Syria which expires on 20 July.
They want a 10-day ultimatum to be part of a Security Council resolution on the future of the UN's observer mission in the country. A new resolution must be passed before the mission's mandate ends on Friday next week.
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