information: Assad troops 'kill 300 men, women and children' in brutal massacre near Damascus

President Assad’s troops were yesterday accused of a massacre on a new scale to anything seen before in the conflict in Syria.
More than 300 bodies, including those of women and children, were found in houses and basement shelters. Many were the victim of execution-style killings, claim opposition activists.
Forces loyal to the tyrannical leader had been fighting fierce battles with rebels in the town of Darayya, close to the capital Damascus. Several videos put on the internet showed rows of bloodied bodies wrapped in sheets.

Graphic: Crowds gather round after what appears to be a mass grave was discovered

Up against it: Syrian rebel fighter, Ali Alnajjr, 20, a former school student, has now become a soldier as the Syrian unrest continues

Most of the dead appeared to be young men of fighting age but at least one video showed several children, who appeared to have been shot in the head. The body of one toddler was soaked in blood.
‘A massacre,’ said the voice of the man who appeared to be taking the footage. ‘You are seeing the revenge of Assad’s forces...more than 150 bodies on the floor of this mosque.’
Yesterday Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt said: ‘I am deeply concerned by emerging reports of a brutal massacre of civilians in Darayya.
‘If confirmed, it would be an atrocity on a new scale, requiring unequivocal condemnation from the entire international community.
‘It would make yesterday the bloodiest day since the unrest in Syria began in March 2011, with over 400 killed across the country.’

Horrific: Bodies lying outside a mortuary in Daraya near Damascus after a ferocious assault by the Syrian army

Nightmare continues: It is believed at least 320 people have been killed in Daraya in the last week

Murdered: Bodies are covered up after being found in a ditch

Resting place: These ditches became mass graves after more people were killed in Syria

The Local Coordination Committees said some of those killed by regime forces in Daraya were
However, it was impossible to independently verify the accounts because of restrictions on non-state media in Syria.
Mr Burt said the development highlighted the urgent need for international action to end the violence.
Russia and China have blocked UN Security Council resolutions which would increase pressure on the regime.
Turkey yesterday began temporarily holding thousands of refugees on the Syrian side of the border.
At least 2,000 people fleeing the violence were not allowed to enter Turkey as it struggles to cope with the influx.

Unrepentant: Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has responded to the ongoing terror by saying his forces will continue to do whatever it takes to seize control

An official said: ‘We have run out of space to house these people.
‘We are working to make shelters and when these are completed, we will allow these people across.’
The number of Syrian refugees in Turkey has nearly doubled over the past two months to more than 80,000.
In total, more than 200,000 Syrians have poured into neighbouring countries since the start of the conflict, with Turkey bearing the brunt of the exodus.
Syrian Vice-President Farouq al-Shara yesterday met an Iranian delegation in Damascus, ending weeks of speculation that he had defected to the opposition.
On Thursday, troops backed by tanks and helicopter gunships stormed Daraya after intense shelling and fighting that lasted days.
The battle for Daraya showed the regime to be struggling to control Damascus and its suburbs though the firepower available to it is far superior to anything the rebels might have.
Government forces are stretched thin, with a major ongoing battle for control of the nation's largest city, Aleppo in the north, as well as smaller scale operations in the east and south.
On Sunday, regime forces also used helicopter gunships and tanks to pound rebel-held areas in the northern city of Aleppo and the restive southern town of Daraa along the Jordanian border. The Observatory said it had reports of fatalities, but did not have exact numbers yet.
Activists say more than 20,000 people have died in 17 months of fighting in Syria, as an uprising that started with peaceful protests against Assad's rule has morphed into a civil war.

Disgraceful: The troubles in Syria show no sign of abating

Horror: An image grab taken from a video uploaded on YouTube, which is to graphic to show on this page, allegedly shows a body lying near tombs on a cemetery in Daraya

On the Turkish-Syrian border, several thousand Syrians gathered at Bab al-Salameh border crossing, having fled airstrikes in their northern towns and villages. They squatted on the sidewalks of three large hangars once used for cargo inspections of trucks. Some said they had been there a week or more.
Mohammed Abdel-Hay, 41, said his family of seven fled the village of Marea after a regime warplane bombed it last week, destroying a house and killing two people.
'They shelled us and we didn't leave. They hit us with helicopters and we didn't leave. Then they brought warplanes than drop huge bombs that destroy entire houses and we left,' he said.

Captured: Syrian troops riding a tank on their way to Daraya on the outskirts of the capital Damascus

Tragic: The bodies continue to line up as the Syria troubles continue to escalate

Since then, the family has staked out a patch of sidewalk where they sit on a plastic mat with a few grain sacks full of clothes.
Mustafa Khatib, 40, a middle school principal from the same village, said he, his wife and their five children fled about the same time and have been staying in the hangar ever since.
The hangar has only one set of latrines, which the women and children use, so the men must use nearby fields. Water was short, and Khatib said he hadn't showered in a week. He said all he had eaten all day was a piece of bread and a hardboiled egg brought by a local Syrian aid group.
Like most of the families, Khatib said he hoped to get into a refugee camp in Turkey, but had been told there was no room.
'We'll stay here and wait and see,' he said. 'Every day, we ask and they tell us today or tomorrow, but they've been saying that for a week and we're still here.'

HOW PEOPLE'S LIVE HAVE CHANGED IN THE SYRIAN CONFLICT

President Bashar Assad's ruthless and brutal clampdown on Syrian unrest shows no sign of slowing down as he attempts to regain control of the Middle Eastern country.
The conflict has led people from all walks of life to come together and fight for their lives, quite literally.

Tawfiq Hassan, 23, a former butcher

Mohammed Yaseen, 24, a former construction worker

Saqir Abu Zahid, 22, a former University student

Mohammed Abu Razouk, 27, poses for a picture, after returning back from fighting against Syrian army forces

Butchers, barbers, construction workers and university students have been forced to take up arms in what, for many, is fast becoming a fight to the death.
With their professions now a distant memory, now they are rebels fighting a civil war they hope will end the regime of President Assad.