Syrian forces have opened fire on civilians fleeing to neighboring Jordan, killing at least one refugee and injuring dozens, activists and relief workers said on Sunday.

A Jordanian security source confirmed that Syrian soldiers opened fire on hundreds of civilians attempting to cross the border on Saturday.

Aid workers said the attack near the Syrian border city of Naseeb left many refugees suffering from bullet wounds and burns. They said some 180 arrived in Jordan on Saturday.

The Kitab Al Sunna Society, a non-governmental group that helps refugees, said dozens of unaccompanied children were among the new arrivals, raising fears that their parents were either killed or arrested.

Dozens of refugees were rushed to state-run hospitals. One person died in hospital, aid workers said.

Opposition activists say the border attack is designed to prevent rebels and army defectors from fleeing to Jordan.

Jordan has witnessed an influx of Syrian refugees in the days since the announcement of UN-brokered ceasefire earlier this month, which according to relief agencies has reached 500 each day.

Jordan follows an open-border policy, granting refuge to all Syrians entering the country, which according to officials and the UNHCR has surpassed 110,000 since March 2011.

Meanwhile, the opposition group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Sunday that at least 13 people were killed in violence across Syria.

Six civilians were killed by security forces in the central province of Homs, the Britain-based observatory said.

Three others were killed in the village of Al Rami in the northern province of Idlib, it said.

Four army soldiers were killed in a bombing attack targeting a personnel carrier on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus, the observatory added. (© Copyright 2012 Ha´aretz 04/23/12)