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Syria denies massacre in Tremseh

Posted On Monday, July 16, 2012 at 09:05:59 AM

Syrians chant slogans during a demonstration in Damascus
Syria denied on Sunday accusations by UN special envoy Kofi Annan that it used heavy weapons or helicopters in clashes in a Tremseh town last week, saying his comments about the fighting, which activists called a massacre, were "rushed".

While activists had estimated the death toll as between 100 and 220, Jihad Makdissi, spokesman for Syria's Foreign Ministry, said security forces killed 37 fighters and two civilians in a campaign against the town from which rebels were launching attacks on other areas.

Makdissi said, "Government forces did not use planes, or helicopters, or tanks or artillery. The heaviest weapon used was a rocket propelled grenade. What happened was not a massacre ... what happened was a military operation.

They were clashes between security forces, whose duty is to defend civilians." Meanwhile, UN observers found blood, burned homes and signs of artillery fire in Tremseh on Saturday, but were unable to confirm reports of 220 people being massacred, which had prompted outrage and led to the US branding Syria's leaders as ‘murderers’.

Video footage from Tremseh posted on Internet on Saturday, however, showed an unidentified man saying, "We were surrounded from four sides with tanks and armoured vehicles, and helicopters hovered above.”







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