Mass killing reported in Syria village

At least 200 people are reported to have been killed in the Syrian village of Tremseh, in Hama province, BBC News reported.Opposition activists quoted residents as saying the village was attacked with helicopter gunships and tanks.Pro-government Shabiha militia later went in on foot and carried out execution-style killings, they said.State media said “terrorist groups” had carried out a massacre to raise tensions ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on the Syria observer mission.If it is confirmed, the Tremseh attack would be one of the bloodiest single events in the Syria conflict.Some 16,000 people are thought to have been killed since the uprising against Bashar al-Assad’s regime began in March 2011.Earlier on Thursday, Syria’s ambassador to Iraq Nawaf Fares announced his defection, following in the footsteps of a former senior general who escaped the country earlier this week.Iraqi officials have said Fares, who has publicly declared his suppo rt for the opposition, is in Qatar.Syrian forces also shelled the suburbs of Damascus later in the day in an apparent offensive against rebel fighters.   Read more... (178 words)

Armenian News