Mutinous soldiers on Wednesday killed four regular Syrian army troops and wounded at least 12 others in an ambush in southern Daraa province, a rights groups said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attack took place on a road between the village of Khirbet Ghazaleh and the town of Dael in Daraa province, cradle of more than nine months of anti-regime dissent.

"At least four troops were killed and 12 others wounded when a joint military-security convoy was ambushed Wednesday morning in an attack between Khirbet Ghazaleh and Dael," it said in a statement sent to AFP in Nicosia.

The attack came as Arab League observers were planning Wednesday to visit Daraa and two other protests hubs, Hama and Idlib, according to the head of the mission.