* Syria says reports are part of campaign of incitement
* Rights group said soldiers stopped people taking bodies
BEIRUT, May 17 (Reuters) - Syria denied on Tuesday that a mass grave had been found near the southern city of Deraa which the army entered last month to crush protests against President Bashar al-Assad.
"Reports of a mass grave in Deraa are completely untrue," state television quoted the Interior Ministry as saying, adding they were part of a "campaign of incitement" against Syria.
Deraa residents said on Monday villagers had pulled 13 bodies from a single grave discovered in farmland on the outskirts of the southern city.
They said the bodies included those of a 62-year-old man and four of his children, along with bodies of a woman and child. The rest of the bodies were unidentified men, they said.
A Syrian rights group, the National Organisation for Human Rights in Syria, also reported a mass grave had been found near Deraa on Monday morning. It said troops had surrounded the area to prevent people taking the bodies away.
Many international media organisations have been barred from Syria, making it difficult to verify accounts.
Deraa residents say dozens of civilians were killed during the military assault on the city&${esc.hash}39;s old quarters after troops and tanks rolled into the city late last month.
Syrian and international rights groups say Syrian forces have killed at least 700 civilians across the country since protests first broke out in Deraa on March 18.
Authorities have blamed most of the violence on armed groups backed by Islamists and outside powers, who they say have killed more than 120 members of the security forces. They say the army went in to Deraa to restore order after appeals from residents. (Reporting by Dominic Evans; Editing by Samia Nakhoul)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
