UN observers blocked from Syria ‘massacre’ site

UN observers say they have been blocked from entering the Syrian village of Mazraat al Qabbeer, scene of an apparent massacre of 78 people including women and children.

The monitor team were initially turned back by Syrian troops for safety reasons. But pro-government TV said the monitor team were later allowed access to the area, although this has not been confirmed.

Activists blamed attacks by security forces and a pro-government militia for Wednesday evening’s massacre. Local villagers said Syrian troops had surrounded the village for days before the shelling began.

A video uploaded to social media websites, which can’t be independently verified, shows a group of dead children, purportedly victims of the attacks.
Some of the bodies were charred black from burns.

UN Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon denounced the reported massacre as an “unspeakable barbarity”.

Other activists claim there’s been no let up in the violence in Homs, one of the nerve centres of the resistance movement against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Another amateur video said to be filmed on Thursday, purportedly shows residents fleeing multiple explosions. Rebels have reported heavy fire by government forces all week in the central city.

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