REUTERS, THE GUARDIAN
Syrian activists say pro-government forces killed between 150 and 200 people in the Hama region on Thursday as the United Nations Security Council met to try and negotiate a resolution on Syria, Reuters reports.
The allegations have yet to be independently confirmed. Activists published a video of dead bodies, but there are no indications that its content was filmed in the small village of Tremseh where the massacre is reported to have taken place, the Guardian reports. United Nations monitors are not yet on the ground. and their mandate ends on July 20.
AFP: UN's General Robert Mood says UN observers ready to go to Syria massacre village if there is a ceasefire
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Activists say helicopter gunships and tanks bombarded the village, which was then stormed by pro-government forces. "It appears that Alawite militiamen from surrounding villages descended on Tremseh after its rebel defenders pulled out, and started killing the people. Whole houses have been destroyed and burned from the shelling," an activist told Reuters.
Syrian state television accused "armed terrorist groups" and said three security personnel were killed in Tremesh.
UN security council negotiations have failed to yield any results, as Russia opposed a United Kingdom drafted resolution that proposed to enforce special UN envoy Kofi Annan's plan for political transition enforceable under Chapter 7 of the UN charter, which allows for military intervention.
