Syrian Islamist factions carried out a series of kidnappings and executions against members of the Alawite and Druze religious minorities in the city of Adra over the past 48 hours, leaving at least 19 civilians dead and many more unaccounted for.
Adra, just outside of Damascus, has traded hands between rebels and government forces repeatedly. The city is split among several religious groups, all of whom had lived together in relative peace until the civil war broke out.
Witnesses reported that the fighters involved in the operation came from Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaeda affiliate, as well as the Islamic Front, an Islamist rebel umbrella which has claimed somewhat more moderate positions.
The death toll at this point remains very preliminary, and some locals claimed it could exceed 40 civilians since so many of the ones taken by the rebels haven’t turned up either alive or dead yet.
The forces doing the killing are the forces the United States has been supporting . Have not we been supporting the wrong side for a very long time . I mean not only in Syria , but in Egypt , Libya , Croatia , Bosnia , Kosovo and every place else even Iraq and Iran . How long has it been since our government has told us the truth . Lucky Obama did not bomb Syria for Assad's poisonous gas attacks , because there now seems to be even more evidence that the rebel forces committed these gas attacks . And is coming out to be a fact our government knew both sides had Saran gas , yet they told us it had to be Assad's forces because he is the only one that had the gas . I guess it has always been true you just can't get honest stories in times of war , but our last three government administrations will not even tell us the truth before the war .