220 killed in latest Syria massacre, activists say

Syrian activists claimed regime forces are responsible for a massacre that killed more than 200 people in a shelling followed by ground attacks in the central Hama province late on Thursday. Due to the Syrian government’s ban on independent journalism, the details of the event have been impossible to confirm. President Bashar al-Assad’s regime acknowledged the violence in the Tremseh area of Hama and blamed the deaths on “terrorist” groups.

A member of the Local Coordination Committees (LCC) opposition group told CBS News on Thursday evening that Syrian army forces surrounded Tremseh in the morning and stormed the city with shelling and fire from aircraft. It began as a search for defected soldiers who joined the Free Syrian Army, according to the LCC. In addition to the LCC, other groups claim that after the initial barrage, members of the government-backed “shabiha” militias stormed the city and executed dozens more. The LCC source who spoke with CBS News put the death toll at 220.