UN: Monitors smell “burnt flesh” in Syria massacre

Syrian army kills 28 civilians in protest cities, says NGO

June 9, 2012   share

Syrian army shelling and gunfire killed at least 28 civilians in protest hubs on Saturday, including 17 in the flashpoint city of Daraa, while three soldiers died in clashes, a monitoring group said.
 
Nine women and three children were among the 17 people killed in pre-dawn bombardment of a residential neighborhood of the southern city of Daraa, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
 
Dozens more were wounded, some of them seriously, in the city which was the birthplace of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's rule that erupted in March 2011, the British-based watchdog said.
 
Also in Daraa province, security forces opened fire in a raid on the village of Abtaa, wounding a number of people and making nine arrests, according to the Observatory.
 
In Homs city of central Syria, government forces pounded the rebel-held Khaldiyeh, Jouret al-Shiyah, Al-Karabis and Qusayr districts with artillery and mortar fire in a bid to regain control.
 
Five people were killed in the bombardment of Khaldiyeh, while two others were shot dead in Qusayr, where clashes broke out, the watchdog said.
 
According to activists living in the old quarters of Homs, the wounded are being deprived access to hospitals while soldiers and gunmen are denying entry and exit to residents.
 
They urged UN military observers to visit the affected neighborhoods and warned of a "humanitarian catastrophe."
 
Elsewhere in the province, "the town of Talbisseh was shelled by regime forces, which had suffered losses several days before when rebels took control of their checkpoints in the town," the Observatory said.
 
In the northern province of Aleppo, three regime troops were killed in clashes in the town of Andan, which was shelled.
 
Also in Aleppo, regime forces bombarded the towns of Hayyan and Beyanoun, killing one civilian, while a civilian was killed in shelling of Martin village in the northwestern province of Edleb, the watchdog said.
 
In Latakia province on the Mediterranean, two more civilians were killed in regime shelling of the city of Al-Heffa and neighboring villages, on the fourth day of an operation to retake control of the area, the Observatory reported.
 
"Al-Heffa is a Sunni town, in a mixed Sunni and Alawite region," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP by telephone.
 
A total of 46 soldiers, 16 civilians and 18 rebel fighters have been killed in the assault on Al-Heffa, according to the watchdog. Syrian state television on Saturday blamed the violence on "armed terrorist groups."
 
More than 13,500 people have been killed across Syria since the uprising broke out almost 16 months ago, according to the Observatory's figures.

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UN: Monitors smell “burnt flesh” in Syria massacre
 
June 9, 2012   share

UN observers who went to the Syria massacre village of Al-Kubeir saw blood on the walls and were hit by a "stench of burnt flesh" but could not confirm how many died, a spokesperson said Friday.
 
While the government has denied responsibility, UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky said the observers saw armored vehicle tracks around the village and homes that were damaged by rockets, grenades and various weapons.
 
"Inside some of the houses, blood was visible across the walls and floors. Fire was still burning outside houses and there was a strong stench of burnt flesh," the spokesperson  said in a grim account of the visit.
 
At least 55 people were killed on Wednesday in an assault on Al-Kubeir in Hama province, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
 
More than 20 unarmed UN observers were allowed into Al-Kubeir on Friday after they were shot at and prevented from entering the village on Thursday, Nesirky said in a statement
 
The village was empty when they went in there and so monitors were unable to talk to any witnesses of the attack, which has led to calls for tougher action against President Bashar al-Assad.
 
Nesirky said people from a nearby village came "and spoke of what they had heard and the relatives they had lost.”
 
"Armored vehicle tracks were visible in the vicinity. Some homes were damaged by rockets from armored vehicles, grenades and a range of caliber weapons," Nesirky said.
 
"The circumstances surrounding this attack are still unclear. The names, details and number of those killed are still not confirmed. The observers are still working to ascertain the facts," he said.
 
Nesirky said that Syrian army checkpoints had "stopped" and "in some cases turned back" the observers who made "multiple attempts" to get into Al-Kubeir on Thursday.
 
"Some of the patrols were being stopped by civilians in the area," he added. The monitors were also told by residents that their "safety was at risk" if they entered the village.
 
Al-Kubeir was the second major massacre in Syria in two weeks. At least 108 people – including 49 were killed when forces attacked the town of Houla on May 25. The government has denied any role in both slaughters.
 
The United Nations says that well over 10,000 people have been killed in the uprising against Assad in the past 15 months.
 
-AFP/NOW Lebanon

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