UN calls on Syria govt to stop using heavy weapons

DAMASCUS, Syria - The UN Supervision Mission in Syria Monday called on the Syrian government to cease the use of heavy weapons in population centers, a day after a group of observers entered a carnage-area in Hama province.

In a briefing Monday, the mission's spokeswoman also called on the Syrian government to take all necessary measures to reduce civilian casualties.

UNSMIS urges the parties to end the violence and pursue a peaceful Syrian-led transition that truly meets the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people, the mission's spokeswoman Sausan Ghosheh said.

She said the UN observers returned to the village of Traimseh, Sunday, to gather more information on the military operation of July 12.

The integrated patrol, comprised of specialized civilian and military experts, observed over 50 houses that were burned and/or destroyed, Ghosheh said, adding that pools of blood and brain matter were observed in a number of homes.

She said the consistent account relayed by 27 local villagers, interviewed by the UN team, indicates that attack commenced at 5: 00 am Thursday morning on July 12, adding that it began with the shelling of the village followed by ground operations.

According to those interviewed, Ghosheh said, the army was conducting house to house searches asking for men and their ID cards. The witnesses alleged that after checking their identification, numerous were killed as others were taken out of the village.

On the basis of some of the destruction observed in the town and the witness accounts, the spokesperson said, the attack appears targeted at army defectors and activists.

She said that UN observers also confirmed the use of direct and indirect weapons, including artillery, mortars and small arms. She said that a rebel Free Syrian Army leader, Saleh al-Subaai, was confirmed shot dead as well as a doctor and his children were killed when a mortar shell hit their home.

The number of casualties is still unclear. The UN Supervision Mission in Syria is trying to seek further verification, Ghosheh said.

On Thursday, scores of people in Traimseh got killed in a carnage, whose circumstances were murky with both the government and the opposition have traded accusations for.

The Syrian government said army troops carried out a qualitative operation in the village against armed groups and upon the request of the residents, who were terrorized by the gunmen in that area.

In a briefing Sunday, Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said that what happened at Traimseh last Thursday wasn't a massacre but rather a "military operation between the army forces and armed groups that have slapped against the wall" the six-point plan of the UN special envoy to Syria Kofi Annan.

"What had been said about the use of heavy weapons was baseless, " he said, adding that "what happened wasn't an attack on civilians."

The situation in Syria is growing more complicated with the ongoing clashes that are getting more momentum.