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May 2nd, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
According to the UN, more than 9,000 people have been killed in Syria since an
anti-regime uprising broke out in March last year.
Meanwhile Human Rights Watch, another group, claimed that government forces
killed at least 95 civilians, many in cold blood, and destroyed hundreds of
houses in a two-week offensive in the northern province of Idlib during
ceasefire negotiations.
The New York-based advocacy group said war crimes were committed during the
offensive against opposition strongholds in March and April as international
peace envoy Kofi Annan was trying to end Syria’s year-long conflict.
“In nine separate incidents documented by HRW, government forces executed
35 civilians in their custody. The majority of executions took place during
the attack on Taftanaz, a town of about 15,000 inhabitants northeast of
Idlib city on April 3 and 4,” the group said in a report.
HRW researchers observed bullet marks on the wall that formed a row 20 to 24
inches above the floor, it added, roughly the height of a kneeling person.
“While diplomats argued over details of Annan’s peace plan, Syrian tanks
and helicopters attacked one town in Idlib after another,” Anna
Neistat, associate director for program and emergencies at HRW, said in a
statement accompanying the report based on an Idlib field investigation
conducted in late April.
“Everywhere we went, we saw burnt and destroyed houses, shops and cars,
and heard from people whose relatives were killed. It was as if the Syrian
government forces used every minute before the ceasefire to cause harm,”
she said.
In each attack, government forces used numerous tanks and helicopters and
would stay in towns for one to three days before proceeding to the next
town, the statement said.
Graffiti left by soldiers in all the affected towns indicate the operation was
led by the 76th Armoured Brigade, it added.
“The circumstances of these cases indicate that government forces failed
to distinguish between civilians and combatants and to take necessary
precautionary measures to protect civilians. Government forces did not
provide any warning to the civilian population about the attacks,” the
statement said.
The United Nations says Assad’s forces have killed more than 9,000 people
since the uprising started in March, 2011.
Rights groups have long accused forces loyal to Assad of arbitrarily detaining
people, holding them without any legal basis and torturing dissidents.
Opposition fighters were present in all the towns that were attacked in Idlib
and in some cases tried to prevent the army from advancing, HRW said, adding
that in most cases the fighters withdrew quickly when they realised they
were significantly outnumbered and had no means to resist tanks and
artillery.
Syria severely restricts access for international media, making it hard to
verify accounts of events on the ground.
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