Syria Rebels: Regime Killed Over 250 in New Hama Massacre

Claims 'Pro-Govt Militia' Carried Out Mass Executions

The rebel faction Revolution Leadership Council of Hama (RLC-H) is claiming another new “massacre” today in the village of Tremseh in Hama Province. After early reports of fighting in the area, the RLC-H put the death toll at “more than 250,” almost all civilians.

The rebels said that helicopter gunships first attacked the village, and that “pro-government militias” attacked later, carrying out mass executions and piling the bodies in front of the local mosque. The rebel Syrian National Council (SNC) demanded UN Security Council action.

Syria’s state media reported a massacre as well, but said that the attackers were from a rebel “terrorist group,” and reported that the military came later to capture the rebels responsible.

As is so often the case in Syria, it is impossible to tell if either version of the story is true, and international factions will inevitably just pick whichever suits their own interests. When the UN has been able to investigate, the truth behind the massacres is almost always starkly different from any official claims from either side, which is likely to increase the resistance against the UN poking its nose into the new events in the first place.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.