Assad troops accused of new massacre in Syria

DAMASCUS: Syrian troops with tanks and helicopters slaughtered more than 150 people in a central village, rights activists said Friday, casting a dark shadow over efforts to stop the bloodshed.

Reports of the massacre came after UN Security Council ambassadors held their first talks on rival Russian and Western draft resolutions on Syria, with Moscow spurning calls for sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

No progress was reported, with a July 20 deadline looming. That is the end date of the mandate for the UN mission to the conflict-stricken country, where activists say more than 17,000 people have died since March 2011.

On Thursday, Syrian government troops massacred more than 150 people in Treimsa village, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, while a rebel leader put the toll at more than 200.

If confirmed, the killing at Treimsa in the central province of Hama would rival the massacre at Houla on May 25, when a pro-Assad militia and government forces were accused of killing at least 108 people.

Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP by telephone that the bodies of 30 villagers had already been identified following the sustained attack, which brought the day's total death toll in the conflict-torn nation to well over 200.

"Some are estimating higher numbers, but even at around 150, especially considering how small the town is, this might be the biggest massacre committed in Syria since the start of the revolution," he said.

"The army must have got the green light to commit a massacre of this scale, and I bear President Bashar al-Assad responsible for the killing."

Rebel leader Abu Mohamad, chief of a group based further to the north, said that the attack using helicopters, tanks and multiple rocket-launchers had killed more than 200 people in the village.

Abu Mohamad said he had been in phone contact with a resident of Treimsa who told him that government forces were on hills a few kilometres (miles) outside the town.

The army and the Shabiha, pro-regime militia who are said to accompany troops to make sure they do not desert, started to bombard Treimsa Thursday around 11:00 am (0800 GMT) and finished around 9:00 pm, according to Abu Mohamad.

But a Hama-based activist who identified himself as Abu Ghazi said via Skype that regime troops started shelling the village earlier, at around 6:00 am.