DHAKA: The death of 130 rebels and civilians was an execution carried out by the Syrian government and its Shia allies, alleged Syria’s opposition Free Syrian Army Saturday.

They were killed in the town of al-Ziyabiya amid battles to control southern Damascus suburbs, which began two days ago.

‘The army of (Syrian President Bashar) al-Assad and their agents, the Iranian militia of Hezbollah and some Iraqi Shias loyal to Tehran, have executed 130 men in areas near al-Ziyabiya,’ FSA spokesman Louay Mokdad said, reports haaretz.com.

‘We call on the world community to immediately look into this new massacre committed by the tyrant regime of al-Assad,’ Mokdad told media.

The state-run SANA news agency reported that government forces managed to fully control al-Ziyabiya and had killed many ‘terrorists at the outskirts of the Bouayda suburb’.

The report added that the armed forces continued to advance towards Bouayda and Hujeira in a move aimed at ‘cleansing the area from terrorists’, a term used by the regime to identify opposition fighters.

BDST: 1828 HRS, OCT 12, 2013
RoR/RIS