At least 78 killed in Syria’s Hama province
By REUTERS
Some of those killed were stabbed to death, at least 40 of the victims women and children, activists say; killings come less than 2 weeks after massacre in Houla
BEIRUT – Activists said pro-government militia men and security forces killed at least 78 people, including children, in Syria’s central province of Hama on Wednesday.
Some of those killed in the village of Mazraat al-Qabeer were stabbed to death, the activists said, and at least 12 bodies had been burned. Some activists who spoke to Reuters said at least 40 of the victims were women and children.
The killings came less than two weeks after a massacre in the Syrian town of Houla, in which security forces and pro-Assad militia men known as ‘shabbiha’ killed 108 people, nearly half of them children.
Syrian forces had been shelling Mazraat al-Qabeer and the nearby village of Maazarif, which are around 20 km (12 miles) from the central city of Hama.
“Shabbiha headed into the area after the shelling and killed dozens of citizens, among them women and children,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, describing a similar pattern of events as recounted from the Houla massacre on May 25.
Both massacres have happened in the presence of United Nations observers, a 300-strong force sent into Syria to observe a ceasefire deal brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan. The truce was hardly observed by the government or the rebels, who last week said they would no longer honor the ceasefire because of recent killings.
There was no comment from the government, and events on the ground are difficult to verify as Syria tightly restricts access to international media.
Activists called for an immediate investigation.
“The Syrian Observatory for Human rights calls on the international monitors to go immediately to the area. They should not wait to tomorrow to investigate this new massacre,” the British-based Observatory said in a statement.
“They should not give the excuse that their mission is only to observe the ceasefire, because many massacres have been committed during their presence in Syria.”
Actually, Bashar Assad runs a secular regime.
The insurgents are the Salafists, not Assad. So you cannot yet blame this on the Koran.
The Alawites have been persecuted for over 1,000 years in the Mideast. They were not even given dhimmi status like the Christians or Jews.
When the Assads, who are Alawites, took power, the Alawites (who are 12% of the population) became the rulers. They are 100% of the elite units, 80% of the officers, and 70% of the career soliders.
They know full well the penalty of being under a Sunni Salafist regime.
They will kill millions to ensure their rule, if only to survive.
The world is insane if it thinks this evil Assad will go down easy. He is prepared to reenact Hitler’s fight to the death, even if it means street to street fighting to the AssadBunker.
The problem is: The insurgents are no better.
We should stay out of this.
@ Felix Quigley:
Felix you understand nada!!!
Let them kill each other and every less Arab is a good thing. If the MB gets control they will probably go out and kill all the Alowites. Good! A civil war could rage for years if the Russians support one side and the Americans the other. Civil war for years to come is good. Many dead Arabs, Good. They attack Israel? so be it we incinerate Syria, Good: end of problem, no Assad, no MB, no Sharia, no more Arabs no more threat. Good!! Let’s give war a chance.
ALL WHO VALUE FREEDOM MUST DEFEND THE ASSAD GOVERNMENT-owned
The refusal of Israel and of Israeli and Jewish leaders to defend Assad because he is allied with Iran is a disgrace to the Jews. It is sheer opportunism.
The issue of Iran and its hatred for Israel is separate. Even the hatred of Assad for Israel is separate.
Here it is a matter of choosing.
It is not at all what sort of a person is Assad. It is that Assad stands for secularism and is against the fundamentalism of the Muslim Brotherhood.
I chall;enge you the readwer to examine every one of the blogs which say they are in opposition to Sharia, such as Jihadwatch, which incidentally I think is a most important and useful site, and I challenge you to find any defence of Assad.
But if you do not defend Assad then you are ON THE SIDE OF THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD
The Syrian Ambassador to the UN said that people should not rely on the Media.
He is saying that what the Media says does not relate to the situation on the ground.
What is Assad fighting? Surely he is fighting against the forces of Sharia.
Why is the US and Western Capitalism backing continually this Muslim Brotherhood? It can only be because they are the side of the Muslim Brotherhood.
But what about Israel, the Israeli Government, the various leaders in the blogs like Jihadwatch, Atlas Shrugs and many others. What position are they taking? Are they taking the side of those who are against Assad.
On the issue of Russia and China…these are the leaders who knifed Milosevic in the back, who knifed Gadhafi in the back, who knifed Mubarak in the back.
And they are preparing to knife Assad in the back.
After all they were trained as Stalinists and are now part of the capitalist system.
WHY WOULD PAMELA GELLER AND ROBERT SPENCER NOT COME OUT STRAIGHT AND BACK ASSAD AGAINST THE SHARIA?
I NEED AN ANSWER. WHAT ABOUT YOU?
if it don’t involve Jews, it ain’t News!!!!
The fact that it goes reported on page 12 next to the crossword puzzles, tells me that we are living in a cowardly world.
I blame this on muslim koranimals who intimidate our narrow shouldered girly men who run the media and the world.
I also blame GHWBush. This piece of crap set the stage for referring all conflicts to the UNSC. Given that the UN is a muslim, latin run enterprise ( how many countries are either muslim or spanish or portuguese speaking or french speaking), who expects anything good to come from it?
The world keeps being surprised Arabs are so savage to their own kith and kin.
Why it should expect them to treat the Jews more kindly?