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             Syria Rebels Committed Crimes Against Humanity: Report

   A prominent human rights group is accusing Syrian rebels of committing
   crimes against humanity during a recent offensive on an area held by
   forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.
   Human Rights Watch says armed Syrian opposition forces killed at least
   190 civilians and took over 200 hostages, mostly women and children,
   during the August attack on Latakia province.
   The New York-based group`s report says at least 67 of the victims were
   executed or unlawfully killed during the attacks on 10 Alawite villages
   loyal to Mr. Assad. In some cases, it said entire families were gunned
   down.
   The investigation found that 20 armed groups participated in the
   operation. It said five Islamist groups were mostly involved, including
   Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The
   participation of the Western-backed Free Syrian Army is unknown.
   Human Rights Watch`s acting Middle East director Joe Stork said the
   abuses were not just the actions of rogue fighters, but a "coordinated,
   planned attack on the civilian population."
   Rights groups have also documented repeated cases of alleged war crimes
   and crimes against humanity by President Assad`s forces during the
   nearly three-year-long battle, which has killed over 100,000 people.
   In one of the most deadly such cases, hundreds were killed in August
   during a chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held suburb of Damascus.
   The Syrian government denied carrying out the attack, instead blaming
   rebels.
   The United States threatened to carry out air strikes against Syrian
   forces in response to that attack, which it says killed 1,400 people.
   But those plans were put on hold after the Syrian government agreed to
   a U.N. plan to give up its chemical weapons stockpile.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/syria-rebels-committed-crimes-against
   -humanity-report/1767501.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/syria-rebels-committed-crimes-against-humanity-report/1767501.html