Syrian Troops Find Mass Grave, Blame Rebels

25 Bodies Found in Damascus Suburb

According to the nation’s state-run news agency, Syrian troops have found a mass grave with 25 dead bodies in the al-Qadam suburb of Damascus. They said the bodies were handcuffed and blindfolded.

The report said that locals had told the troops about the grave, and said they believed the attack was carried out by some rebel faction, which they called an “armed terrorist group” in keeping with their ongoing term for them.

Both regime and rebels have regularly accused one another of massacring civilians in the ongoing Syrian civil war, with such allegations becoming more frequent as the war gets bloodier.

Fighting around the capital of Damascus has mostly taken place in suburbs, with the rebels operating out of Sunni suburbs while trying to consolidate gains across the rest of the area.

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.