BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian rebels have attacked a village in the country’s east, killing dozens of Shiites, mostly progovernment fighters, activists said today. A Syrian government official denounced the attack, saying it was a “massacre” of civilians.
The killings, which took place Tuesday in the eastern Deir el-Zour province, highlight the sectarian nature of Syria’s conflict that has killed more than 80,000 people, according to the U.N.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 60 people were killed in the village of Hatla in the oil-rich province that borders Iraq.
Thousands of rebels took part in the attack and at least 10 of them were killed in the fighting, said the Observatory.
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