DAMASCUS - A total of 44 people were killed, including women and children, and more than 20 others wounded Tuesday when extremist groups attacked a pro-government town in central Syria, according to Syria's national TV.

The Syrian troops backed by the local defense forces confronted the attack against the village of Mabujeh in central province of Hama, dealing hefty losses among the assailants, said the report.

Other reports said the National Hospital of the town is calling for blood donations.

Meanwhile, the oppositional Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Islamic State (IS) group executed 37 people in Mabujeh, a village in east of the provincial capital of Hama and home to people from different sects.

The village is close to an international road connecting central Syria with the northern city of Aleppo.

The minority groups in Syria have felt threatened by the emergence of the IS, which targets and kills people who belong to the Shiite minority.