GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – United Nations monitors attempted Thursday 7 June to access a village where Syrian activists claim troops and supporters of the regime killed at least 78 inhabitants, before being turned back at an army checkpoint, Reuters reports.
The opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria claim government troops shelled the village of Qubair in Hama province, in advance of militia fatally knifing and shooting villagers, including over 40 women and children. The killings come less than two weeks after 108 people were killed in the town of Houla.
Syrian state television reported that government troops had intervened in the “armed opposition stronghold” of Qubair, after villagers appealed to them for assistance.
UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan is expected to brief the UN Security Council on Syria later on Thursday in New York.
