US ambassador to Syria Robert Ford posted a photo on the US embassy's Facebook page depicting a "probable mass burial" in the Syrian town of Tall Daww, Houla.
For a larger version of the image, click here.
In an accompanying message, Ford called the massacre in Houla "the most unambiguous indictment of the regime to date," adding that it "clearly illustrates Syrian government’s flagrant violations of its UN Security Council obligations under Resolutions 2042 and 2043 along with the regime’s ongoing threat to peace and security."
Forces loyal to Assad killed at least 108 people and injured around 300, mostly women and children, on Friday in Houla in Homs province, according to UN estimates. The event marked one of the biggest massacres of the 14-month uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad's rule.
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Ford expanded on the details of the massacre, stating that at least 30 children under the age of 10 were killed, and adding that there were reports that families were summarily executed in their homes.
Ford placed blame for the massacre squarely on Assad, saying that forces had used tanks and artillery to commit the crime. These are "weapons that only the regime possesses," Ford stated. Syrian authorities have denied carrying out the attack, instead blaming it on "terrorists."
Turning to Iran, Ford said that "the Iranian regime’s interests are deeply embedded in the Assad regime’s survival - it is directly supporting the Syrian government through lethal and non-lethal means, and its Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and intelligence services are coaching the Syrian military." Ford singled out Iran's elite Quds force for assisting Assad in carrying out attacks against civilians. "The IRGC’s Quds force, which takes explicit instruction from the Iranian regime, appears to be helping set up the sectarian government-affiliated militias in Syria commonly referred to as the Shabiha."
For a larger version of the image, click here.
In an accompanying message, Ford called the massacre in Houla "the most unambiguous indictment of the regime to date," adding that it "clearly illustrates Syrian government’s flagrant violations of its UN Security Council obligations under Resolutions 2042 and 2043 along with the regime’s ongoing threat to peace and security."
Forces loyal to Assad killed at least 108 people and injured around 300, mostly women and children, on Friday in Houla in Homs province, according to UN estimates. The event marked one of the biggest massacres of the 14-month uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad's rule.
Related:
Ford expanded on the details of the massacre, stating that at least 30 children under the age of 10 were killed, and adding that there were reports that families were summarily executed in their homes.
Ford placed blame for the massacre squarely on Assad, saying that forces had used tanks and artillery to commit the crime. These are "weapons that only the regime possesses," Ford stated. Syrian authorities have denied carrying out the attack, instead blaming it on "terrorists."
Turning to Iran, Ford said that "the Iranian regime’s interests are deeply embedded in the Assad regime’s survival - it is directly supporting the Syrian government through lethal and non-lethal means, and its Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and intelligence services are coaching the Syrian military." Ford singled out Iran's elite Quds force for assisting Assad in carrying out attacks against civilians. "The IRGC’s Quds force, which takes explicit instruction from the Iranian regime, appears to be helping set up the sectarian government-affiliated militias in Syria commonly referred to as the Shabiha."