Syria ( " Massacre " in a Sunni village near the Mediterranean coast )

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

 

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

In 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.
"Don't sleep, don't move," one woman sobs, leaning over to touch one of the men, who appeared already dead. The video appears genuine and consistent with reporting by The Associated Press from the area.