At least 35 people were killed and more than 50 others wounded today when a remotely detonated truck bomb tore through the village of al-Horra, outside of the Syrian city of Hama. Most of the victims were civilians, including women and children.
The bomb left a huge crater in the village, which is under government control and therefore under off-and-on siege from various rebel factions, as is much of the frontier between rebel and government-controlled regions.
The Islamic Front, the “moderate Islamist” rebel faction which some Western officials have been courting as a potential ally claimed credit for the attack, saying the victims were all members of a “pro-Assad militia.”
The claim was not upheld by even other rebel factions, which noted many civilians among the slain, and only a handful of combatants. It is not uncommon for groups to dub everyone slain combatants of some sort, even when there is no evidence to back that up.