Hundred killed in central Syria
8 Jun 2012 1:35 AM GMT
Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad ‘massacred’ about 100 people, including many women and children, at a village in central Syria, the opposition Syrian National Council has said.
‘We have 100 deaths in the village of Al-Kubeir’ in Syria's central Hama province on Wednesday, ‘among them 20 women and 20 children,’ said Mohammed Sermini, spokesman for the exiled opposition coalition who accused the regime of being behind the ‘massacre.’
Other sources also reported that a ‘massacre’ had taken place in the same area, including opposition activists and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tentatively put the number of dead at 87.
Pro-regime shabiha militia armed with guns and knives carried out the ‘new massacre’ at a farm after shelling by regular troops, the Britain-based Observatory said in a statement.
‘What is certain is that dozens of people died, including women and children,’ the watchdog's Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
Both Sermini and the Observatory urged UN observers to immediately head to the region to investigate the latest atrocity in Syria's 15-month uprising against Assad's embattled regime.
Meanwhile, Syrian troops and local residents prevented UN observers from reaching the site, the head of the UN mission in Syria said on Thursday.
‘The UN Supervision Mission in Syria dispatched UN observers to Al-Kubeir early Thursday morning to verify reports of large-scale killings in the village,’ Major General Robert Mood said. He said the observers were stopped at Syrian army checkpoints and in some cases turned back. He said civilians were also stopping the monitors.
‘We have 100 deaths in the village of Al-Kubeir’ in Syria's central Hama province on Wednesday, ‘among them 20 women and 20 children,’ said Mohammed Sermini, spokesman for the exiled opposition coalition who accused the regime of being behind the ‘massacre.’
Other sources also reported that a ‘massacre’ had taken place in the same area, including opposition activists and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tentatively put the number of dead at 87.
Pro-regime shabiha militia armed with guns and knives carried out the ‘new massacre’ at a farm after shelling by regular troops, the Britain-based Observatory said in a statement.
‘What is certain is that dozens of people died, including women and children,’ the watchdog's Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
Both Sermini and the Observatory urged UN observers to immediately head to the region to investigate the latest atrocity in Syria's 15-month uprising against Assad's embattled regime.
Meanwhile, Syrian troops and local residents prevented UN observers from reaching the site, the head of the UN mission in Syria said on Thursday.
‘The UN Supervision Mission in Syria dispatched UN observers to Al-Kubeir early Thursday morning to verify reports of large-scale killings in the village,’ Major General Robert Mood said. He said the observers were stopped at Syrian army checkpoints and in some cases turned back. He said civilians were also stopping the monitors.
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