Activists: More than 50 massacred in Syria

This image taken from a video posted online by Syrian opposition activists allegedly shows the bodies of people killed by pro-government gunmen in Homs, March 12, 2012. / YouTube

Last Updated 2:06 p.m. ET

(CBS/AP) BEIRUT - Syrian activists said Monday that pro-government gunmen have killed scores of people, including children, in a rebel stronghold recaptured by the government in the embattled central city of Homs.

CBS News' Khaled Wassef reports that, according to activists, 52 bodies were found at an unspecified number of locations in the Karm al-Zaitoun and Adaweya neighborhoods of Homs. Almost all were women and children.

The state media in Damascus, which often ignores claims by activists, confirmed some killings in Homs, but blamed "armed terrorists" as it frequently calls those behind the uprising.

Syria's state-run media quoted an unnamed official as saying that armed groups in some areas in Homs are kidnapping people, then killing and disfiguring them in order to bring international condemnation to the regime.

Fresh from stamping out rebel centers of resistance in Homs, government forces are pressing on with new offensives in other parts of central and northern Syria. The reports of the killings add to concerns that the hundreds of civilian deaths caused by the fighting will be compounded by reprisals against opposition supporters in the recaptured towns and neighborhoods.

They will add to the pressure on U.N. Security Council members who are meeting to decide what to do next to stop the violence, as the international community's current ongoing effort — a peacemaking mission by U.N. envoy Kofi Annan — falters with both government and opposition refusing to talk to one another.

Int'l efforts to end Syria crisis stalls
U.N. envoy Annan meets with Assad in Syria
Syria in crisis: Who are the key players?

Activists accused gunmen known as "shabiha," who have been playing a major role in crushing the year-old uprising, for the recent attacks.

As described by Ahed Al Hendi of the Council on Foreign Relations, Shabiha is an armed militia (headed by Assad's first cousins) who partake in violence upon civilians, acting as strong-arm enforcers of the Assad regime.

According to activists, the victims were seized by the Army, then handed over to the Shabiha. They were killed in separate groups at different locations.

Activists said some bodies were found with their throats slit or bearing stab wounds. Others were shot, then burned. The bodies were discovered by Army defectors from the Syrian Free Army.

A doctor who inspected the bodies at the local morgue of Bab al-Sbaa told Al-Jazeera that some of the women were raped before being shot, and one of them was actually pregnant.

A YouTube video showed the wounds of a man who purportedly survived the massacre in Karm al-Zaitoun.

He said, "Shabiha killed us. They placed us in a room, and after two hours of killing spree, they poured fuel onto us ... covered us with fabric. They then started shooting us. There were 30 or 40 of them. They set fire to the house. When I saw that the lights were out, I got up despite my wounds ... and walked away."

Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, is trying to confirm activists' claims that eight of those killed in Karm el-Zeytoun were Palestinians.

In another YouTube posting the videographer indentifies many of the dead whose bodies were reportedly found in Karm el-Zeytoun.

Homs is the Syrian city hardest hit by violence since the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began in March last year. Several areas of Homs, including Karm el-Zeytoun where Sunday's deaths occurred, were controlled by rebels and retaken by government forces earlier this month.

Karm el-Zeytoun has witnessed intense anti-regime protests in the past months. It is one of several neighborhoods in Homs that have large populations both of Alawites — a Shiite offshoot that dominates the Damascus regime — and of Sunnis — who make up much of the opposition against it.

The Observatory said that after the killings, many people fled Karm el-Zeytoun as well as the nearby neighborhoods of Bab Dreb and Nazihin, for fear pro-government gunmen might carry out similar attacks.

Pictures posted online by activists showed the bodies of five children who were disfigured after being apparently hit with sharp objects. At least six dead adults were covered with sheets.

An amateur video posted online showed men wrapping the bodies of the dead with white cloth in accordance with Muslim tradition before burial.

"This is what they do to us, the Sunnis. The Sunnis are being wiped out, they are the ones who are dying at the hands of Iran and the Shiites," shouted a man in the background. Shiite Iran is one of the Assad regime's few remaining allies.

"We tell Bashar that your punishment will be harsh," the man shouted. The authenticity of the video could not be independently confirmed.

The Observatory called on the United Nations to form an independent investigative committee to find "those committing massacres and have them face justice."

"The regime aims to terrify people and put down the revolution," said Syria-based activist Mustafa Osso, who also blamed the shabiha for the attack.

He says new protests broke out in several areas around the country to condemn the latest killings in Homs.

The LCC called for a day of mourning Tuesday and urged Syrians to close their shops and abstain from going to work, schools and universities. The group urged citizens to carry black ribbons and flags and wear black shirts in sign of mourning.

AP Photo/Richard Drew

The United States and Russia clashed over Syria at the U.N. Monday after Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the divided Security Council to speak with one voice and help the Mideast nation "pull back from the brink of a deeper catastrophe."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton (left) rejected any equivalence between the "premeditated murders" carried by President Bashar Assad's "military machine" and the civilians under siege driven to self-defense.

"We expect all nations, including Russia and China, to join us now in pressing the Assad regime to silence its guns, to allow humanitarian aid to enter, and to make way for a real political transition," Clinton said. "I pointed out my very strong view that the alternative to our unity on these points will be bloody, internal conflict with dangerous consequences for the whole region. So our message is clear, it is past time for action."

U.S. and Russia clash over Syria at U.N.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Syrian authorities "bear a huge share of responsibility" but insisted opposition fighters and extremists including al Qaeda are also committing violent and terrorist acts.

• no previous page
• next

1/2

[b4uigo]

So here's another case where the left wing media will cry outrage at the "slaughter" of "innocent" civilians. Once they've generated enough public outcry to actually get us involved, they'll turn around and be outraged at Americans killing "innocent civilians". Syria? Who cares? Every one that dies is a bullet we don't have to manufacture.

[Jesus_to_ground_control]

Arab League of Heroes to the Rescue!

The change must come from within; the Syrians have showed the world that they want freedom and justice! So it is up to the Arab League of Heroes to answer the call and destroy evil!

[askagain]

What per cent? 10%, 20%, or more. On what do you base your statement. What if the majority of Syrians are satisfied with the status quo?

[julianpenrod]

Two stories about miltiary killing civilians, two different headlines, two different treatments.
The story about the U.S. soldier slaughtering unarmed civilians uses words like "kill" and "shot". Also, in describing the event, the article uses the word many perceive as legally distancing, "alleged".
With the accounts of Syrian military, it's, again, "masscred". The New World Order hand out for the rebels apparently had that word near the top of the list of inciting terminology. And, here, the witnesses did not just "allege" the military carried out those actions, they aredescribed using a term many take to be more immediate and pesonal, "said".

[askagain]

As if the rebels haven't killed, maimed, and massacred other Syrians. Perhaps it is time to let other countries solve their own problems. Unlike a country such as Iran, Syria certainly doesn't present a direct threat to our security or economic well being.

[usunus]

Were the 52 victims Sunni or non-Sunni ? That could throw some light on the perpetrators because both sides are quite capable of this kind of outrage .

[usunus]

The Syrian activists,the Homs rebels,the LCC and the Syrian Observatory are all one ond the same in their propaganda warfare.Their target audience is American to provoke an international military intervention in Syria.

[smittyc]

The U.S. and NATO have enough problems in Afghanistan. The rebels in Syria started the fight and need to recognize it is their problem. We went into Iraq and left, no one in Islam wanted us there, the same with Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt and others. Both sides wanted us to leave. I wish Syria good luck, may the best man win.

[starving1968-3]

What Israel is doing to Gaza, is EXACTLY THE SAME THING as what Syria is doing to Homs.

If their religion was "christian" or "jewish", the American christians would be siding with Assad's regime in much the same way they side with Netanyahu's regime.

[askagain]

Syria is having internal turmoil. Unlike Israel, Syria doen't have hostile neighbors shooting rockets into Syria. Certainly you are smart enough to realize the difference.