Evidence of new Syrian regime massacre north of Aleppo
Evidence of new Syrian regime massacre north of Aleppo
As evidence of a new Syrian regime massacre emerges, including the murder of ten children, the UN says it is considering naming some 200 alleged war criminals linked to grave abuses in Syria.
3 min read
Bashar al-Assad's regime have been accused of committing war crimes (Getty)
Syrian opposition sources say they have evidence of ‘a new massacre’ carried out by Syrian regime forces.
Several bodies were found in buildings near the town of Hardatnein in the Aleppo region during an offensive aimed at cutting rebel supply lines to the Turkish border. The discovery of the bodies indicates that regime forces used civilians as 'human shields'.
Abdul Razzaq al-Faraj, a civilian who had been detained by Syrian troops and used as a human shield, and freed by the opposition forces, told al-Araby al-Jadeed that the regime forces took around 250 women and children and about 37 men from Hardatnein and Rityan, north of second city Aleppo, to a nearby school where they were held and used as human shields.
The eyewitness said that the soldiers subjected the hostages to physical and psychological abuse. They insulted and harassed the women and physically abused the men before opposition fighters managed to force the soldiers to retreat from the area after they incurred heavy losses.
News also emerged that ten children were among those killed in Rityan as regime forces ‘executed’ the families of five alleged rebels, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday.
The Britain-based monitoring group said that villagers had discovered the bodies of those killed when they returned to their homes after the regime forces pulled back on Wednesday.
The wives of the five alleged rebel fighters were also among the dead.
"The troops and militiamen knew exactly where they lived thanks to the informers who accompanied them," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.
Activist Mamun Abu Omar said some of the bodies of the dead had been mutilated.
The brief seizure of Rityan was part of an abortive offensive launched by Syrian regime forces this week to try to encircle the rebel-held east of Aleppo and relieve two besieged Shiite villages to its north.
By Friday all but one of the villages taken by government forces in the initial fighting had been recaptured by the rebels, who include fighters of Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front.
Opposition forces also made significant advances in al-Mallah village area where they took control over the farmlands zone, as well as Arab al-Saloum and al-Usamat regions at the east of al-Mallah, reaching the borders with the Handarat area, which is currently under the control of an air defence battalion affiliated with the regime.
As evidence of atrocities and grave abuses continue to emerge from Syria, UN investigators are considering publishing lists of alleged war criminals.
The investigators say that the aim behind the decision to release this hitherto secret document is to put alleged perpetrators of torture, executions and kidnappings "on notice," and act as a deterrent to help protect people at risk of abuse.
"It is unconscionable that Syrians should continue to suffer as they have for the last four years and have to live in a world where only limited attempts have been made to return Syria to peace, and to seek justice for the victims," said Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, who heads the four-member independent commission charged with investigating alleged human rights violations since the Syrian conflict began in March 2011.
Some 222,000 people have been killed in the Syrian civil war according to U.N. estimates. About 6.5 million people have been displaced, and more than 3 million have fled the country.
Several bodies were found in buildings near the town of Hardatnein in the Aleppo region during an offensive aimed at cutting rebel supply lines to the Turkish border. The discovery of the bodies indicates that regime forces used civilians as 'human shields'.
Abdul Razzaq al-Faraj, a civilian who had been detained by Syrian troops and used as a human shield, and freed by the opposition forces, told al-Araby al-Jadeed that the regime forces took around 250 women and children and about 37 men from Hardatnein and Rityan, north of second city Aleppo, to a nearby school where they were held and used as human shields.
The eyewitness said that the soldiers subjected the hostages to physical and psychological abuse. They insulted and harassed the women and physically abused the men before opposition fighters managed to force the soldiers to retreat from the area after they incurred heavy losses.
News also emerged that ten children were among those killed in Rityan as regime forces ‘executed’ the families of five alleged rebels, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday.
The Britain-based monitoring group said that villagers had discovered the bodies of those killed when they returned to their homes after the regime forces pulled back on Wednesday.
The wives of the five alleged rebel fighters were also among the dead.
"The troops and militiamen knew exactly where they lived thanks to the informers who accompanied them," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.
Activist Mamun Abu Omar said some of the bodies of the dead had been mutilated.
The brief seizure of Rityan was part of an abortive offensive launched by Syrian regime forces this week to try to encircle the rebel-held east of Aleppo and relieve two besieged Shiite villages to its north.
By Friday all but one of the villages taken by government forces in the initial fighting had been recaptured by the rebels, who include fighters of Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front.
Opposition forces also made significant advances in al-Mallah village area where they took control over the farmlands zone, as well as Arab al-Saloum and al-Usamat regions at the east of al-Mallah, reaching the borders with the Handarat area, which is currently under the control of an air defence battalion affiliated with the regime.
As evidence of atrocities and grave abuses continue to emerge from Syria, UN investigators are considering publishing lists of alleged war criminals.
The investigators say that the aim behind the decision to release this hitherto secret document is to put alleged perpetrators of torture, executions and kidnappings "on notice," and act as a deterrent to help protect people at risk of abuse.
"It is unconscionable that Syrians should continue to suffer as they have for the last four years and have to live in a world where only limited attempts have been made to return Syria to peace, and to seek justice for the victims," said Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, who heads the four-member independent commission charged with investigating alleged human rights violations since the Syrian conflict began in March 2011.
Some 222,000 people have been killed in the Syrian civil war according to U.N. estimates. About 6.5 million people have been displaced, and more than 3 million have fled the country.
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