UN mission probes massacre in Syrian village

DAMASCUS - The UN Supervision Mission in Syria managed to enter the troublesome village of Traimseh in central Hama province, in which a murky carnage occurred earlier this week, while two explosions rocked the same province on Saturday, killing five people.

UN observers entered al-Traimseh on Saturday to verify reports of a military operation on the poor village, said Sausan Ghosheh, UN supervision mission spokesperson.

UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) confirmed that an attack, using a variety of weapons, took place in Traimseh on July 12, Ghosheh said in a statement.

On Thursday, scores of people in Traimseh got killed in a carnage, while the circumstances were murky as both the government and the opposition have been trading accusations.

The Syrian government said army troops carried out a qualitative operation in the village against armed groups upon the request of residents, who were terrorized by the gunmen there.

"The attack on Traimseh appeared targeted at specific groups and houses, mainly of army defectors and activists," the spokesperson said, adding that "there were pools of blood and blood spatters in rooms of several homes together with bullet cases."

Ghosheh said the UN team also observed a burned school and damaged houses with signs of internal burning in five of them, adding that awide range of weapons were used, including artillery, mortars and small arms.

However, she said, the number of casualties is still unclear. She added that the UN team plans to go back into Traimseh on Sunday to continue their fact finding mission.

Major General Robert Mood, head of the UNSMIS, announced on Friday in a press conference that the UN mission stands ready to send its observers to Traimseh, despite the mission's suspension of activities, if and when there is a ceasefire.

Ghosheh's statement said the UNSMIS received information that a ceasefire was in place on Friday and immediately conducted a reconnaissance patrol in the area to assess access to the village and establish contacts with local parties.

An 11-vehicle integrated patrol, comprised of specialized military and civilian observers, arrived in Traimseh, 25km northwest of the city of Hama, on Saturday after confirming that a ceasefire was in place, she said.

Ghosheh said the UNSMIS is deeply concerned about the escalating level of violence in Syria and calls on the government to cease the use of heavy weapons on population centers, as well as urging the parties to put down their weapons and choose the path of non-violence for the welfare of the Syrian people who have suffered enough.

The massacre sparked international condemnation and prompted super powers to call for a UN resolution that urges the Syrian leadership to pull out troops and heavy weapons from populated areas within 10 days otherwise Syria would face nonmilitary sanctions.

However, the resolution is demanded to be adopted under the chapter 7 of the UN charter, which would allow the resolution to be imposed militarily. Russia has expressed opposition to the new resolution.

Meanwhile, and also in Hama, five people were killed, including two children, in two separate blasts on Saturday.

An improvised explosive device went off near a school in al-Ba' ath street in Hama, leaving two children killed and 10 others injured, state media said.

The blast came just hours after three civilians were killed in Hama when a suicide car bomb exploded at the western street of Mhardeh town, the report added.

Car bombs and explosions have become growing trend across Syria amid ongoing escalation of violence that has sparked more international frenzy about the 16-month unrest.

In the meantime, the opposition activists' group, Local Coordination Committees, said that a total of 73 people have been killed nationwide on Saturday. Yet the account couldn't be independently verified.

The United Nations said at least 9,000 Syrians were killed in the Syrian unrest that started in March 2011, while the activists' group, Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, put the death toll at 17,129, among them 11,897 civilians.

There has been no independent confirmation of the activists' accounts.

The protracted violence in Syria has also forced 103,000 of its citizens to seek refuge in neighboring Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, the UN humanitarian affairs agency said last week.