Twin car bomb explosions in the Syrian-controlled part of the Golan Heights killed eight people on Friday, as government forces launched new raids in rebel-held districts of Damascus.
The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights says most of those killed in the explosions in the Golan Heights are members of Syria's military intelligence.
There was no claim of responsibility for the blasts, but car bombs and suicide attacks targeting Syrian troops are tactics commonly used by Islamic militants, who alongside the rebels are trying to topple President Bashar al-Assad.
The Observatory says military forces pounded opposition-held areas of Damascus on Friday, in a continued attempt to wrestle control from rebels.
The United Nations Friday released a letter from Syria's U.N. ambassador rejecting calls to refer the Syrian crisis to the International Criminal Court. Almost 60 countries have urged such action, but the letter said the initiative shows "hypocrisy and double standards."
It also notes that Syria's government has not exhausted all remedies to domestically handle human rights abuses that it says have been committed by "terrorists," a term it frequently uses to describe the rebels.
At least 60,000 people have been killed since the conflict began in March 2011. Hundreds of thousands more have sought refuge in neighboring countries.