Syrian opposition activists say pro-government
forces have killed at least 80 people in five days of fighting to recapture a
rebel suburb of Damascus.
In statements to the media Sunday, the activists
said the forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad carried out the
killings after entering the suburb of Jdaidet al-Fadl. They said pro-government
patrols of the town were making it difficult to document the number of dead.
An activist video posted on the Internet claimed to
show several bodies of those killed covered in bags and laid out on the ground.
Some appeared to have been executed with gunshot wounds to the head.
There was no immediate response from the Syrian
government to the accusation.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights said Syrian troops also have captured territory around the western rebel
stronghold of Qusair, with the help of pro-government militia and Lebanese
Hezbollah militants.
It said the pro-Assad forces seized two villages on
Saturday in their push to reclaim Qusair, a strategic town that connects
Damascus to the Mediterranean coast and lies near the Syrian-Lebanese border.
Lebanese state media said several shells fired from
the Syrian side of the border landed near the northern Lebanese town of Hermel
on Sunday. Syrian rebels said the shelling was in retaliation for Hezbollah
intervening in the Syrian civil war on the side of the Assad government.
The main Syrian opposition coalition released a
statement demanding that Hezbollah withdraw fighters from Syria immediately,
and urging the Lebanese government to stop the militant group from intervening
further. Hezbollah is a key ally of Syrian President Assad but has denied
sending its fighters to Syria to help him battle a two-year rebellion.
Sources :
http://www.voanews.com/content/syria-activists-proassad-forces-kill-80-near-damascus/1646048.html
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