Syrian Group: 65 People Shot Dead In Aleppo

A Syrian opposition group says 65 people, apparently shot in the head, have been found dead, with their hands bound, in Aleppo.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the death toll could rise as high as 80, calling the killings a "new massacre".

Photos posted online by opposition activists showed the muddied bodies of several men lying by a small river near the western outskirts of the city in northern Syria.

Close-up shots of some of the corpses showed they had what appeared to be gunshot wounds to the head.

Most have their hands tied behind their backs.

It was not clear who carried out the killings.

Restrictions on independent media in Syria make it difficult to verify reports from activists.



The fighting, which began almost two years ago, has claimed at least 60,000 lives.

More than 700,000 people have fled the violence, according to the United Nations.

Human rights groups have accused both government forces and the rebels of carrying out summary executions.

Aleppo, the country's most populous city, has seen fierce fighting since the summer. The rival forces are stuck in a stalemate, with the city divided roughly in half between the two.

Both sides blamed the other for the killings.

An officer with Free Syrian Army, the rebel force, told the AFP news agency that at least 68 bodies, including some of teenagers, had been recovered and that many more were still being dragged from the water.

He said all had been "executed by the regime".

A senior government security source told AFP that many of the victims had been reported kidnapped earlier.

The source accused "terrorists" - the term usually used by the government to refer to the rebels - of carrying out the executions and spreading propaganda to deflect responsibility.

In the video, a cameraman is walking along a river filming over 50 bodies lying on a concrete path, blood seeping from their heads.

Some of the men were dressed in jeans, shirts and sneakers.

Source : SkyNews
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