Activists Accuse Syrian President’s Followers of Killing Dozens
Published at
Alessio Romenzi/AFP/Getty Images(DAMASCUS, Syria) — As many as 106 Syrians were reportedly killed this week when pro-government forces besieged the village of Haswiyeh outside the city of Homs.
Activists said on Thursday that the alleged onslaught by troops and their followers actually occurred two days earlier.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the fighters showed no mercy to the villagers, killing men, women and children and burning their homes to the ground.
The activists also claimed that the purported massacre, which has been denied by the Syrian government, had a sectarian motive to it.
The victims were Sunni Muslims, the human rights group said, while many of the attackers were apparently from a nearby Shiite-dominated village.
President Bashar al-Assad belongs to an off-shoot Shiite sect while the majority of rebels are believed to be Sunni.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio