Syria massacre: Assad's forces 'shot anything moving'
The small town of Tremseh has suffered what may be the single worst atrocity of the Syrian uprising, say eyewitnesses
Residents of the battered Syrian town of Tremseh have described being chased from their homes and hunted down by regime forces after seven hours of shelling during a major assault that left more than 150 people dead last Thursday.
The first observers to reach the devastated town yesterday described widespread scenes of destruction, and many residents appeared too traumatised to talk about their ordeal. The massacre in the small farming community of 6,000 to the north-west of Hama is being described as the worst single atrocity of the Syrian uprising.
Two eyewitnesses from Tremseh who spoke to the Observer yesterday blamed regime forces and the pro-regime militia, the Shabiha, for the attack, which has seen many of its residents flee and left more than 100 people missing. "We don't understand why they attacked us," said a local woman, Umm Khaled. "We haven't brought harm to the region. All we've done here is hold demonstrations."
Umm Khaled, who had lived in Tremseh – a Sunni Muslim enclave – all her life, said people trying to flee through nearby fields were shot dead as they ran. She claims some of the bodies were taken away by regime forces and that others were handcuffed, then summarily executed.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/14/syria-bashar-al-assad-tremseh?CMP=twt_gu
