(14 Jul 2012) STORYLINE:
UN observers investigating a reported mass killing in the Syrian village of Tremseh on Saturday found pools of blood in homes and spent bullets, mortars and artillery shells, adding details to what anti-regime activists have called one of the deadliest events of Syria's uprising.
An 11-vehicle convoy of UN observers entered Tremseh on Saturday, home to between six to ten thousand residents and one of a string of small farming villages along the Orontes River northwest of the city of Hama.
Based on its investigation, the team said in a statement that "an attack" took place on 12 July.
UN observers said the violence seemed to target the homes of army defectors and activists, some of which were burned or damaged and had splattered blood and bullet casings inside.
The team also found evidence of artillery shells and mortars as well as assault rifles, the staple of Syria's rebels.
It did not give a casualty figure, but said the team would return on Sunday to continue investigating.
Amateur video appeared to show dozens of people that have already been buried in a mass grave, and activists are still struggling to determine the total number killed in what they say was a violent bombardment by government forces.
Running tolls ranged from 103 to 152, including dozens of bodies buried in neighbouring villages or burned beyond recognition.
Emerging details suggested that, rather than the outright bombing of civilians that the opposition has depicted, the violence in Tremseh may have been a lopsided fight between the army pursuing the opposition and activists and locals trying to defend the village.
The Syrian government has denied launching the attack and said the killings were carried out by armed gangs and militants, its shorthand for the anti-regime opposition.
It said 50 people were killed before the army intervened and that three soldiers were killed.
But the UN has already implicated President Bashar Assad's forces in the assault.
The head of the UN observer mission said Friday that monitors stationed near Tremseh saw the army using heavy weaponry and attack helicopters.
Anti-regime activists say government troops surrounded Tremseh early Thursday and shelled it before they pushed into the village alongside pro-regime militiamen from nearby communities and began killing people in the streets.
Nearly all of the dead are men, including dozens of armed rebels.
The Tremseh violence appeared to be one of the bloodiest events in the now 16-month-old uprising against Assad, in which activists say more than 17 thousand people have been killed so far.
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