Syrian Civil War 2011-2012 - Societa italiana di storia militare

The Syrian government denied responsibility, saying that the massacre was perpetrated by "armed gangs" and that three members of
the security forces were killed fighting them. The government also gave a lower figure of 50 civilians being killed. [24] The Syrian
government subsequently retracted the claim and denied that any civilians died at all, saying that they "had carried out a special
operation against rebel forces killing many rebels and capturing dozens of others," adding that no civilians were killed. [33] According
to the Syrian government residents called security forces for help after the terrorist groups raided the neighborhood. The security
forces then arrested some of the members of the terrorist groups and confiscated their weapons. A military source quoted by the staterun
Syrian Arab News Agency said an operation by armed forces destroyed "terrorists' dens," killed many of the people they found
there, and led to the arrests of scores more." The account added, "Armed forces successfully dealt with the terrorists without casualties
taking place among the citizens. They searched into the terrorists' dens where they found the dead bodies of a number of citizens who
had been abducted and killed by the terrorist groups." [34] Kofi Annan, the UN special envoy, accused the Syrian government of using
heavy weapons and helicopters in the village. Jihad Makdissi, spokesman for Syria's Foreign Ministry, denied that heavy weapons
were used in the village and said the heaviest weapon used was an RPG. [35][36] A local opposition member, Fadi Sameh, was quoted as
saying, “It appears that Alawite militiamen (Shabiha) from surrounding villages descended on Turaymisah after its rebel defenders
pulled out, and started killing the people. Whole houses have been destroyed and burned from the shelling." [37] Another [who?] was
quoted as saying, "Around 6:00 AM of Thursday morning, Assad forces surrounded the village with heavy weaponry and tanks, more
than 800 soldiers of Assad forces were in the mission, after couple of hours, they started arbitrary artillery shelling on the village.
People fled their home to seek shelters in school and the mosque. Assad forces shelled the school and the mosque causing collapses in
the buildings which resulted in tens of deaths. Shabiha from the surrounding villages came to support Assad forces and to kill more of
the village people, which escalate the number of victims in this massacre." [38] The UN observer mission head, Robert Mood, said that
the Syrian army was still conducting assaults with heavy weapons around the town the following day. [39] By the evening of 13 July
2012, the opposition Syrian National Council claimed a new total figure of 305 killed. [40] However, at the same time, other opposition
activists backed away from their earlier estimates of over 200 dead. One local activist stated that he had confirmed 74 deaths, but had
only 20 names. Another provided a list of 103 names. [41] Others also said the death toll may have been less but was certainly over
100. [42] A group of UN-observers had entered Tremseh on July 14, 2012 with a convoy of around 11 vehicles on reconnaissance
mission. According to a local activist in Hama province they inspected bombed places and where there were traces of blood. [43] The
UN observers found evidence of an attack, including a burned school, damaged houses, and proof that artillery, mortars and small
arms were used according spokeswoman for the head of the U.N. Supervising Mission in Syria, Sausan Ghosheh. [44][45] "The attack ...
appeared targeted at specific groups and houses, mainly of army defectors and activists. There were pools of blood and blood spatters
in rooms of several homes together with bullet cases," Ghosheh said in a statement. [44][45] On the same day the head of the UN
monitoring mission, Major General Robert Mood, told reporters in Damascus that a group of observers, deployed few kilometres from
Tremseh, confirmed the use of heavy weaponry and attack helicopters in Tremseh and thereby implicated the Syrian government
according to Al Jazeera. [43] On 14 July 2012, the facts over the event remained unclear with new details emerging that would indicate
that what was called a massacre was more of a battle between the military and opposition fighters that ended in a defeat for the
rebels. [24] Videos, televised confessions of captured fighters and reports from non-local activists backed up this version. The videos of
the victims that have emerged showed mostly young men of fighting age. Another video was said to show a group of rebel
reinforcements heading to Tremseh, all of them armed young men in civilian clothes. A team of UN observers was sent to the town to
investigate. It was pointed out that while previous massacres were usually followed by long lists of names and videos of killed
civilians emerging at the same time, as well as corroboration by UN observers who would fault the Syrian Army, this was not so in
this case. Some opposition groups still claimed a large number of civilian deaths happened while others put the death toll at far less
and stated most were rebels. The opposition activist group SOHR stated that it had been able to confirm only 103 deaths, 90 percent
of them young men, and the group's director, Rami Abdul-Rahman, said that the majority of people killed in Tremseh were either
rebel fighters from the town or from surrounding towns. [1][46] Later, he was more precise, stating that at least 50 rebels were killed. [6]
The opposition activist group VDC confirmed, by this point, the names of only 63 people to have been killed. [47] Late on 14 July, the
UN observer mission issued a statement, based on the investigation by its team that went to the town, that the Syrian military mainly
targeted the homes of rebels and activists contradicting claims of a civilian massacre. [48][10] Opposition activists gave a new revised
figure of 103 to 152 dead but stated they were expecting the number to rise because, according to them, hundreds of people were
unaccounted for and locals believed many bodies remained in the fields that were close to army checkpoints or were disposed of into
the Orontes River. The UN observers could not immediately determine the total number of casualties and announced they would
return to the area the next day to further investigate. [6] On 15 July, the government stated that 37 of the dead were rebels and only two
were civilians. [24][5] Syrian foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi told a news conference in Damascus that no helicopters,
aircraft or armoured tanks were used in the attack - only troop carriers and small arms, including rocket-propelled grenades. "It was
not a massacre but a response by regular military forces against heavily armed groups that do not want a political solution," Mr
Makdissi said. [49] Meanwhile the International Committee of the Red Cross declared it sees the fighting in Syria as a "noninternational
armed conflict", which is the technical term for civil war. This would have the effect that, from that point on, all those
fighting in Syria are officially subject to the Geneva Conventions and could end up at a war crimes tribunal if they disobeyed
them. [50][2] On 16 July, rebels gave a revised death toll of approximately 150. They said higher numbers in the past were because of
mistakingly counting the wounded as dead, and that only 68 bodies were present due to others being "stolen" by the Syrian army. By
Sunday they had the names of 103 of those who died, and about 30 of the bodies were too badly burnt to be identified. 5 children and
1 woman were amongst those killed, the rest were all males. Free Syrian Army (FSA) leader, Saleh al-Subaai, was also confirmed
killed in the battle. [3]
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International
• United Nations – U.N Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon condemned the massacre, stating that he is “outraged” by reports
of horrific mass killings. [51] UN-Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan also condemned the massacre and stated that Syrian
forces had used heavy weaponry. [36]