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Syrian National Coalition claims 50 killed in new massacre

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Syrian opposition group has condemned 'large-scale massacre in Bayda' and asked for protection for country's people

Syria's main opposition group has accused President Bashar al-Assad's regime of committing a "large-scale massacre" in a Sunni village near the Mediterranean coast in which activists say at least 50 people were killed with guns, knives and blunt objects.

The killings in Bayda reflect the sectarian overtones of the country's civil war. Tucked in the mountains outside the coastal city of Banias, the village is primarily inhabited by Sunni Muslims, who dominate the rebel movement. But it is in the heartland of Assad's Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam that is the backbone of the regime.

In an amateur video purportedly taken after the killings, the bodies of at least seven men and boys are seen strewn in pools of blood on the pavement in front of a house as women weep around them. The video is consistent with reporting from the area.

The regime has so far kept a relatively solid grip on the Alawite heartland, centred on the mountainous region along the coast. The area is dotted with Sunni villages, but they are surrounded by larger Alawite communities, meaning the anti-Assad revolt has had a harder time taking hold. If confirmed, the bloodshed in Bayda would be the latest in a string of alleged mass killings in Syria's civil war. Last month activists said that government troops killed more than 100 people as they seized two rebel-held suburbs of Damascus.

The main western-backed opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, on Friday condemned what it called "a large-scale massacre in Bayda", and urged the international community to act to protect Syrian civilians.

"It is time for the world to intervene and put an end to the grievous crimes of the Assad regime," the Cairo-based group said in a statement.

While the US and its European and Gulf allies have backed the opposition forces, they have been reluctant to provide the rebels fighting Assad's troops with weapons that could stand up to the regime's superior firepower. They fear the arms could end up in the hands of radical Islamic groups that in the past year have become the most effective fighting force on the opposition's side.

On Thursday, Barack Obama said his administration was looking at every option to end the bloodshed in Syria. Speaking at a news conference in Mexico City, he said the administration was proceeding cautiously as it looked at options to ensure that what it does is helpful to the situation rather than making it more deadly or complex.

In Washington, US defence secretary Chuck Hagel, became the first top American official to publicly acknowledge that the administration was rethinking its opposition to arming the Syrian rebels. Hagel said on Thursday that "arming the rebels – that's an option", but added that the administration was looking at all options.

The Syrian conflict, now in its third year, started with largely peaceful protests against Assad's rule in March 2011, but shifted into an armed insurgency as opposition supporters took up weapons to fight a harsh regime crackdown on dissent.

The conflict has devastated the country, killing more than 70,000 people, forcing more than 1 million Syrians to seek refuge in neighbouring countries such as Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey and displacing millions more inside Syria.


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