Syria denies responsibility for attack killing 90

Syria denies responsibility for attack killing 90

Associated Press

DAMASCUS, Syria

The Syrian government today denied responsibility for killings in a string of villages that left more than 90 people dead, blaming the killings on “hundreds of heavily armed gunmen” who also attacked soldiers in the area.

Friday’s assault on the central area of Houla was one of the bloodiest single events in Syria’s 15-month-old uprising, and gruesome images of dozens of children killed in the attacks prompted a wave of international outrage.

The U.N. said 32 children under the age of 10 were among the dead and issued a statement appearing to hold the Syrian regime responsible. Persistent violence has cast doubt about the future of international efforts to halt 14 months of bloodshed between the regime and forces fighting against it.

Activists from Houla said Saturday that regime forces had peppered the area with mortar shells after large demonstrations against the regime on Friday. That evening, they said, pro-regime fighters known as shabiha stormed the villages, gunning down men in the streets and stabbing women and children in their homes.