UN team probes reported massacre

Associated Press

BEIRUT

U.N. observers investigating a reported mass killing in a Syrian village Saturday found pools of blood in homes and spent bullets, mortars and artillery shells, adding details to the emerging picture of what anti- regime activists have called one of the deadliest events of Syria’s uprising.

Dozens of people already have been buried in a mass grave, and activists are still struggling to determine the total number of people killed in what they say was a violent bombardment by government tanks and helicopters last week.

Some of the emerging details suggested that, rather than the outright bombing of civilians that the opposition has depicted, the violence in Tremseh may have been a lopsided fight between the army pursuing the opposition and activists and locals trying to defend the village. Nearly all of the dead are men, including dozens of armed rebels. The U.N. observers said the assault appeared to target specific homes of army defectors or opposition figures.

Running tolls ranged from 103 to 152, including dozens of bodies buried in neighboring villages or burned beyond recognition.