The claim by the government came as the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition group, said initial reports indicated "a number of people were killed and injured" in El Tal following heavy shelling during the raid by government forces.

The countering claims by Syrian forces and rebels followed news that a U.N. panel found that both sides have committed war crimes in the conflict. The U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry, though, singled out the scale of the government's attacks as crimes against humanity.

The fighting has fueled protests and violence in neighboring Lebanon.

Mass protests and kidnappings reported in Lebanon between Syrians loyal to the Sunni-dominated rebels and those aligned with al-Assad, an Alawite Muslim with strong Shiite support, have raised concern that Syria's conflict could undo the political balance that has managed to prevail since the end of Lebanon's 15-year civil war in 1990.

A Syrian citizen, Houssam Khashroum was kidnapped Thursday in front of a hospital in the eastern Lebanese town of Zahle, a Lebanese security official said.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, meanwhile, called on their citizens to leave Lebanon late Wednesday, citing deteriorating security.

The latest unrest in Lebanon was triggered by the kidnapping in Damascus of a Lebanese man, Hassan Salim Meqdad, by Syrian rebels who accused him of being a Hezbollah member. The rebel Free Syrian Army distributed a "confession" by Meqdad in which he said he was one of 1,500 Hezbollah fighters operating in Syria.

In response, Meqdad's brother, Hatem Meqdad, told Lebanon's state news agency that his family kidnapped 26 Syrians living in Lebanon and warned that citizens of the Persian Gulf monarchies and Turkey would be next. Two of the captives were displayed for cameras, appearing beneath a black tribal banner.

Groups of young people protesting Meqdad's abduction burned tires and blocked the road to Beirut's international airport late Wednesday as soldiers in riot gear and armed with tear gas stood by.

On Thursday, Maher Meqdad, a family spokesman, told a televised news conference that his group had stopped all military operations.

He added that the group was not involved in Thursday's kidnapping.

The violence in Syria has been spilling over into Lebanon since May, when a group of Shiite pilgrims were kidnapped in Syria. A series of gun battles, riots and angry protests that month left at least 11 people dead.