published february 23 2015 ten children were among at least 48 people killed in a syrian village last week when regime forces executed six families of rebel fighters a monitoring group said on saturday tuesdays executions took place in the village of rityan north of second city aleppo after regime forces entered that day during an offensive aimed at cutting rebel supply lines to the turkish border the syrian observatory for human rights said. the britain-based monitor said that villagers had discovered the bodies when they returned to their homes after the regime forces withdrew a day later. five women and 13 rebels from the six families were among the dead. "the troops and militiamen knew exactly where they lived thanks to the informers who accompanied them" observatory director rami abdel rahman said. "there was no resistance except in one house where a rebel opened fire at troops before being executed along with his family" he added. activist mamun abu omar said some of the bodies had been mutilated. syrian regime forces killed 48 alleged rebels in hardatnin village in aleppo in northern syria according to a statement released saturday by the syrian revolution general commission. regime forces killed 48 civilians by shooting or slaughtering the victims before withdrawing from the village friday night. the victims included women and children. the massacre was discovered when the rebels completely seized control of hardatnin village on saturday according to the statement. the opposition forces freed 150 civilians who were captured at a school in the village. a field hospital documented a list of the 48 victims names. mustafa sultan a local activist in the area confirmed the death toll saying that regime forces backed by hezbollah factions killed the civilians before their withdrawal. a report released by a group of u.n. experts investigating war crimes on friday said that "unthinkable" crimes continue to occur on a daily basis in syria as the conflict approaches its fifth year. the u.n. commission of inquiry on syria called for urgent attention to be paid to the shocking crimes committed by the syrian regime islamic state in iraq and the levant militants and other armed opposition groups. the report said that syrian president bashar al-assads regimes "surrender or starve" siege strategy has left thousands of people particularly infants dead over the past four years citing the victims describing the regimes strategy as that of "draining the sea to kill the fish." the regime has been using barrel bombs since 2012 targeting crowded areas such as bakery lines transportation hubs apartment buildings markets and aid distributions which led to an increase in the number of persons with disabilities according to the report. the brief seizure of rityan was part of an abortive army offensive launched this week to try to encircle the rebel-held east of aleppo and relieve two besieged villages to its north. by friday all but one of the villages initially taken by government forces had been recaptured by the rebels who include fighters of al-qaida affiliate al-nusra front. syria has been gripped by violence since the regime launched a violent crackdown in response to anti-government protests in march 2011 triggering a conflict that has left at least 210000 people dead and displaced almost half of the countrys population according to the u.n.
monitor 10 of 48 people executed by forces loyal to regime were children