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New 'massacre' reported in Syria's Hama province New 'massacre' reported in Syria's Hama province
(31 minutes later)
At least 86 people, including many women and children, have been killed by Syrian pro-government forces in Hama province, opposition activists say.At least 86 people, including many women and children, have been killed by Syrian pro-government forces in Hama province, opposition activists say.
A spokesman for the Syrian National Council, the main opposition coalition, said there had been a "massacre" in the villages of al-Qubair and Maarzaf. A spokesman for the Syrian National Council, the main opposition coalition, said there had been a "massacre" in the villages of Qubair and Maarzaf.
The Local Co-ordination Committees, an activist network, said 78 were executed with guns and knives in al-Qubair, including 35 members of one family. More than 20 children and 20 women were reportedly among those who died.
The allegations could not be confirmed. The reports could not be confirmed, but they comes less than two weeks after 108 people were executed in Houla.
The report comes less than two weeks after 108 people were summarily executed in the Houla area of the neighbouring Homs province.
Witnesses blamed pro-government militiamen, while the government accused "armed groups" seeking to trigger foreign military intervention.Witnesses blamed pro-government militiamen, while the government accused "armed groups" seeking to trigger foreign military intervention.
'Bodies burnt'
On Wednesday evening, activist groups reported that Qubair had come under heavy attack from security forces, including shelling.
But they said much of the killing was done by accompanying groups of pro-government militiamen known as "shabiha", who had come from nearby pro-government villages.
The activists said they shot at close range and stabbed many people, including women and children under the age of two, and that some of the bodies were later burnt in houses which were set on fire. Others were taken away by the shabiha, they added.
The Local Co-ordination Committees, an activist network, said 78 people had died in Qubair, including 35 members of one family.
The activist groups said the Qubeir killings brought the total number of people killed nationwide by security forces on Wednesday to 130.
The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says there has been no independent confirmation of these latest reports and no video has surfaced on the internet to back them up.
But the news of the Houla massacre emerged in a similar way and the details given by activists were later confirmed by UN ceasefire observers on the ground, our correspondent adds.