Syria jihadists accused of 'execution' war crimes
Jihadist fighters have been accused of war crimes over the killing of 190 civilians from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite minority, in the largest atrocity ever attributed to rebels. ● The massacre allegations came as the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons won this year's Nobel Peace Prize, which it said it would celebrate once it has completed the daunting task of eradicating Syria's vast chemical arsenal amidst a brutal civil war. A Human Rights Watch report on the killings of Alawite villagers said another 200 people - the vast majority women and children - were taken hostage in the rebel operations in August. The report, which urged an arms embargo on groups suspected of war crimes or crimes against humanity, said at least 67 people were "executed or unlawfully killed."
Alex Lantier: Report finds US-backed Syrian opposition responsible for sectarian atrocity ■ The atrocities near Lattakia also expose the treacherous role of the corporate media, which are deeply implicated by their promotion of the Syrian opposition. They have lied through their teeth, praising a collection of cutthroats and gangsters mobilized as part of an imperialist war against Syria, and who are capable of the bloodiest killings, as fighters for democracy. Such lies about the opposition, exposed by HRW’s material, played a key role in the drive by the United States and its European allies to the brink of war, halted only by the emergence of mass popular opposition. The media blamed several atrocities implicating Syrian opposition forces—such as the May 2012 Houla massacre, or the chemical attack in Khan al-Assal a year later—on the Syrian regime. These lies were used to justify further arming of the opposition against the regime and escalating the war. In the fighting near Lattakia—where Alawite civilians targeted in sectarian killings could only have been victims of the Sunni opposition, not Syria’s Alawite-led regime—it would have been difficult to blame atrocities on the regime. The media responded by downplaying the entire offensive.
Russia Today: "Foreigners" train Syrian rebels in Afghanistan to use chem weapons - Lavrov