FOXNews.com: Assad Regime Accused of Massacre in Syria Town

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Assad Regime Accused of Massacre in Syria Town Aug 26th 2012, 15:44 Syria opposition activists say President Bashar Assad's forces were responsible for a massacre in the town of Daraya, west of Damascus, as human rights groups report seeing bodies lying in the streets. As many as 200 people, including women and children, were reportedly killed by regime forces, according to a Reuters report, which cited opposition activists. The British-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 32 people were found killed by "gunfire and summary executions." FoxNews.com is unable to independently verify these accounts. Video footage obtained by Reuters reportedly shows bodies with what appeared to be gunshot wounds to the head and chest at a mosque in Daraya. Syria's official state news agency reportedly said regime forces had "cleansed" the town of "armed terrorist groups." Britain has condemned the reported "brutal massacre." Britain's Middle East minister Alistair Burt says, if confirmed, "it would be an atrocity on a new scale, requiring unequivocal condemnation from the entire international community." Burt says in a statement it "highlights the urgent need for international action to bring an end to the violence, end this culture of impunity and hold to account those responsible for these terrible acts." Burt says he has spoken to U.N. and Arab League Joint Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi to discuss the killings. The U.N. Human Rights Council previously condemned Syria for the slaughter of more than 100 civilians in a cluster of villages known as Houla on May 25. Activists say more than 20,000 people have died in 17 months of fighting in Syria, as an uprising that started with peaceful protests against Assad's rule has morphed into a civil war. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Click for more from Reuters.

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