A total of eight Syrian soldiers were killed in two attacks by armed fighters in Syria's central province of Homs, the official SANA news agency quoted a military source as saying on Thursday.

The source said gunmen ambushed a military vehicle in the Talbiseh town in Homs and opened fire on the troops, killing three of them, including an officer, and wounding five others.

In a separate incident, gunmen ambushed another military vehicle in al-Rasten town, killing five soldiers, according to the source, adding the groups were chased and confronted by the army, a number of whom were injured.

Earlier on Wednesday, SANA said around 14 people from the central province of Homs were kidnapped and brutally killed by " terrorist" groups over the last few days. The corpses were moved to the National Hospital in Homs, which were tortured and mutilated.

Syria's third-largest city Homs has spearheaded rallies against the Syrian president since protests erupted on March 15.

Syria has been in unrest since mid-March when anti-government protests broke out in the southern province of Daraa and spread to other cities.

The Syrian authorities blamed the unrest on "armed groups and foreign conspiracy," and stressed that it would track down gunmen who have intimidated the people and damaged public and private properties.