Tanks, 'copters rain deadly fire on Syrian village

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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A photo from an amateur video purports to show some who died in the Tremseh battle.from Hama Revolution 2011 and accessed by AP video Friday, July 13, 2012 purports to show bodies of victims killed by violence that, according to anti-regime activists, was carried out by government forces in Tremseh, Syria, about 15 kilometers (nine miles) northwest of the central city of Hama. Anti-regime activists in Syria said Friday that government gunners rained shells on a poor, farming village before armed thugs moved in, leaving scores of people dead in what rebels claim is one of the worst single days of bloodshed in the uprising against President Bashar Assad�s regime. (AP Photo/ Hama Revolution 2011 via AP video) (CP)

BEIRUT -- The UN singled out government forces Friday for blame in the latest massacre in Syria, a frenzy of killing that raises new questions about whether diplomacy has any chance to end the crisis more than 16 months into the bloodiest revolt of the Arab Spring.

As the violence turns ever more chaotic, analysts warn the effort by special envoy Kofi Annan has become nothing more than a pretence, with government forces, rebels, jihadists and others fighting for power.

"Violence and escalation have outpaced political and international diplomacy," said Fawaz A. Gerges, director of the Middle East Centre at the London School of Economics.

"I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel... All I see is more violence and more escalation, and this horrible massacre is another sign that Syria is spiralling out of control."

Scores of people were killed Thursday when Syrian gunners bombarded the impoverished village of Tremseh, using tanks and helicopters in what rebels claim was among the bloodiest days of the uprising against President Bashar Assad.

The accounts of the killing and death tolls varied widely. Late Friday, local activists backed away from early reports that more than 200 people were killed. One said he had confirmed 74, but had only 20 names. Another provided a list of 103 names.

The Syrian government said more than 50 people were killed when Syrian forces clashed with "armed gangs" terrorizing village residents. The regime refers to its opponents as terrorists and gangsters.

Much remains unclear about what happened in Tremseh, an isolated hamlet in Hama province, including why it was targeted and whether all the dead were civilians. One activist group said dozens of victims were rebel fighters.

An amateur video posted online showed a young man wailing over the body of an elderly, grey-haired man wrapped in a blanket.

"Come on, Dad. For the sake of God, get up," the man sobbed as a boom was heard in the background.

Another video showed a mass grave that was three bodies wide and about 10 bodies long. The video's narrator called it "the first group of martyrs from the Tremseh massacre."

Neither activists' claims nor the videos could be independently verified.

Two activists reached Friday via Skype said they were in villages near Tremseh and gave a chilling account of the violence.

Bassel Darwish said the army surrounded the village early Thursday to prevent people from fleeing and pounded it with artillery, tank shells and missiles from a combat helicopter.

"Lots of people tried to get the families out but they weren't able to," he said. After the shelling, the army entered with pro-government thugs, who gunned down and stabbed residents in the streets, he said.

Initially, Darwish said activists had determined 200 people died. However, later via Skype, he sent a list of 103 names of people he said were confirmed dead.

Another activist, Abu Ghazi al-Hamwi, said local rebels tried to fight off the army but couldn't.

"They kept shelling the city and the weapons that the (rebel) Free Army had were not enough to keep them out," he said, adding he had been able to confirm 74 dead.

The killings fuelled debate about what to try next to stop the violence, which activists say has killed more than 17,000 people despite several rounds of sanctions and increasingly frantic condemnation by the UN, the U.S. and its western and Arab allies.

Reflecting the deep frustration, activists held anti-regime protests across Syria on Friday under the banner "Remove Kofi Annan, the servant of Assad and Iran."

"Down with Annan, the agent of Iran!" protesters chanted in the town of Maaret al-Numan. Iran is one of the Syrian regime's strongest backers.

In a statement Friday, Annan said he was "shocked and appalled" by reports of the Tremseh attack and condemned the government for using heavy weaponry in populated areas, which it was to have stopped three months ago.

Maj.-Gen. Robert Mood, head of the UN monitoring mission, told reporters in Damascus a group of observers deployed about five kilometres from Tremseh confirmed the use of heavy weaponry and attack helicopters, implicating the government.

The violence has grown increasingly chaotic during the uprising, which began in March 2011 with mostly peaceful protests. Government forces launched a ferocious crackdown on the demonstrations, leading many people to take up arms.

Besides the government crackdown, rebel fighters are launching increasingly deadly attacks on regime targets, and several massive suicide attacks this year suggest al-Qaida or other extremists are joining the fray.

Against this backdrop, diplomacy appears all but doomed to fail.

The government and the fractious, largely leaderless opposition have agreed to Annan's plan for a ceasefire by both sides and for the government to pull its tanks out of population centres. Both sides have largely ignored the deal.

-- The Associated Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 14, 2012 A24