U.N. Blames Syria’s Heavy Weapons in Bloody Clash
Source: NYT
By NEIL MacFARQUHAR and RICK GLADSTONE
Published: July 13, 2012 6 Comments
BEIRUT, Lebanon — The general leading the suspended United Nations monitoring mission in Syria said on Friday that there had been continuous fighting around the town of Tremseh, where both sides accused the other of massacring villagers a day earlier in what, if confirmed, could be the bloodiest sectarian incident of the Syrian uprising against the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
At the same time, Kofi Annan, who engineered an unheeded, six-point peace plan for Syria as the special envoy of the United Nations and the Arab League, issued a statement singling out the government in particular for the continuing violence in which scores of people were reported to have died.
Estimates of the tally of the dead ranged from a government assertion that 50 people were killed, to claims by a resident that 230 bodies had been readied for burial on Friday. Video posted online showed the bloodied corpses of some 15 mostly young men lying dead on the ground.
“This is in violation of the Government’s undertaking to cease the use of heavy weapons in population centers and its commitment to the six-point plan,” Mr. Annan said in a statement. “I condemn these atrocities in the strongest possible terms. It is yet another reminder of the nightmare and the horrors Syrian civilians are being subjected to.”
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/14/world/middleeast/massacre-reported-in-syria-as-security-council-meets.html?pagewanted=all
Head of Syrian observer team says helicopters used in area of reported massacre
Ben Hubbard, The Associated PressJul 13, 2012 08:27:00 AM
BEIRUT - The head of the U.N. observer mission in Syria says his teams can confirm government forces waged attacks from the ground and air Thursday in Tremseh, where there are reports of a mass killing.
Norwegian Maj. Gen. Robert Mood says Friday that the fighting involved helicopters and "mechanized units" — indicating the government was using heavy weapons. Mood described the assault as "continuous violence."
Anti-regime activists in Syria say government gunners rained shells on Tremseh before armed thugs moved in, leaving scores of people dead. The government blamed the bloodshed on terrorists.
more:http://www.news1130.com/news/world/article/382251--activists-say-more-than-100-killed-in-new-massacre-in-hama-area-of-syria
