AFP
A deadly attack on the Syrian village of Treimsa, where monitors say over 150 people were slaughtered, mainly targeted the homes of rebels, the UN mission said following a visit there.
The village bore signs of having been pounded with heavy weapons, and homes of rebels and activists had borne the brunt of Thursday's attack, a statement from the UN mission said, referring to "pools of blood and blood spatters".
Sausan Ghosheh, spokeswoman for the UN Supervision Mission in Syria, said a team of observers had visited the village in central Syria on Saturday.
"On the basis of this preliminary mission, UNSMIS can confirm that an attack, using a variety of weapons, took place in Treimsa on July 12," she said in a statement, without specifying who may have carried out the attack.
Activists say more than 150 people were killed in the assault which they allege was a massacre carried out by the army, backed by pro-regime militiamen known as shabiha ("ghosts" in Arabic).
The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP it "might be the biggest massacre committed in Syria since the start of the revolution" against Assad in March 2011.
If confirmed, the toll would exceed that of a massacre at Houla on May 25, when a pro-government militia and government forces were accused of killing at least 108 people.
Syria's military however said the army had killed "many terrorists" in Treimsa, but no civilians, in a "special operation... targeting armed terrorist groups and their leadership hide-outs."
Ghosheh said a "wide range of weapons were used, including artillery, mortars and small arms."
"The attack on Treimsa appeared targeted at specific groups and houses, mainly of army defectors and activists. There were pools of blood and blood spatters in rooms of several homes together with bullet cases.
"The UN team also observed a burned school and damaged houses with signs of internal burning in five of them."
The Treimsa killings have triggered a global outcry against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, with UN chief Ban Ki-moon calling for urgent action to stop the bloodshed.
Meanwhile an AFP reporter near the northern city of Aleppo said intensive bombardments had been heard for nearly six hours Saturday some 30 kilometres (20 miles) west of the city.
A rebel official who was in radio contact with fighters said the artillery of government forces based at Ourm Assoughra, 20 kilometres west of Aleppo, had pounded the nearby towns of Aljineh, Ibbin and Zardana.
The Observatory said earlier that Syrian troops and pro-regime militias had stormed and torched a town in southern Syria on Saturday.
Hundreds of soldiers backed by helicopter gunships attacked Khirbet Ghazaleh in the province of Daraa - the cradle of a 16-month uprising - amid heavy gunfire, the watchdog said.
An AFP journalist said fighting Saturday near the Turkish border between government troops and rebel fighters had left at least 10 rebels dead and 15 wounded.
The Treimsa killings have added urgency to deadlocked Security Council negotiations on a Syria resolution.
Treimsa is near Al-Kubeir, where at least 55 people were killed on July 6, according to the Observatory. Like Al-Kubeir, Treimsa is a majority Sunni village situated near Alawite hamlets.
Assad belongs to the Alawite community - an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam - although most Syrians are Sunni.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon lashed out at the Syrian regime and called for the UN Security Council to urgently act to stop the bloodshed, as failing to do so would give "a licence for further massacres."
A deadly attack on the Syrian village of Treimsa, where monitors say over 150 people were slaughtered, mainly targeted the homes of rebels, the UN mission said following a visit there.
The village bore signs of having been pounded with heavy weapons, and homes of rebels and activists had borne the brunt of Thursday's attack, a statement from the UN mission said, referring to "pools of blood and blood spatters".
Sausan Ghosheh, spokeswoman for the UN Supervision Mission in Syria, said a team of observers had visited the village in central Syria on Saturday.
"On the basis of this preliminary mission, UNSMIS can confirm that an attack, using a variety of weapons, took place in Treimsa on July 12," she said in a statement, without specifying who may have carried out the attack.
Activists say more than 150 people were killed in the assault which they allege was a massacre carried out by the army, backed by pro-regime militiamen known as shabiha ("ghosts" in Arabic).
The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP it "might be the biggest massacre committed in Syria since the start of the revolution" against Assad in March 2011.
If confirmed, the toll would exceed that of a massacre at Houla on May 25, when a pro-government militia and government forces were accused of killing at least 108 people.
Syria's military however said the army had killed "many terrorists" in Treimsa, but no civilians, in a "special operation... targeting armed terrorist groups and their leadership hide-outs."
Ghosheh said a "wide range of weapons were used, including artillery, mortars and small arms."
"The attack on Treimsa appeared targeted at specific groups and houses, mainly of army defectors and activists. There were pools of blood and blood spatters in rooms of several homes together with bullet cases.
"The UN team also observed a burned school and damaged houses with signs of internal burning in five of them."
The Treimsa killings have triggered a global outcry against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, with UN chief Ban Ki-moon calling for urgent action to stop the bloodshed.
Meanwhile an AFP reporter near the northern city of Aleppo said intensive bombardments had been heard for nearly six hours Saturday some 30 kilometres (20 miles) west of the city.
A rebel official who was in radio contact with fighters said the artillery of government forces based at Ourm Assoughra, 20 kilometres west of Aleppo, had pounded the nearby towns of Aljineh, Ibbin and Zardana.
The Observatory said earlier that Syrian troops and pro-regime militias had stormed and torched a town in southern Syria on Saturday.
Hundreds of soldiers backed by helicopter gunships attacked Khirbet Ghazaleh in the province of Daraa - the cradle of a 16-month uprising - amid heavy gunfire, the watchdog said.
An AFP journalist said fighting Saturday near the Turkish border between government troops and rebel fighters had left at least 10 rebels dead and 15 wounded.
The Treimsa killings have added urgency to deadlocked Security Council negotiations on a Syria resolution.
Treimsa is near Al-Kubeir, where at least 55 people were killed on July 6, according to the Observatory. Like Al-Kubeir, Treimsa is a majority Sunni village situated near Alawite hamlets.
Assad belongs to the Alawite community - an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam - although most Syrians are Sunni.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon lashed out at the Syrian regime and called for the UN Security Council to urgently act to stop the bloodshed, as failing to do so would give "a licence for further massacres."