Survivor tells of horror in Syrian village

Six hours after tanks and militiamen pulled out of Mazraat al-Qubeir, a Syrian farmer said he returned to find only charred bodies among the smouldering homes of his once-tranquil hamlet.

“There was smoke rising from the buildings and a horrible smell of human flesh burning,” said a man who told how he had watched Syrian troops and “shabbiha” gunmen attack his village as he hid in his family olive grove.

“It was like a ghost town,” he told Reuters by telephone, asking not to be named because he feared for his safety.

Until now a bloody 15-month-old revolt against Syrian President Bashar Assad had barely touched Mazraat al-Qubeir, whose residents had taken little part in the uprising.

On Wednesday, the conflict came to them.

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/06/07/syria-crisis-killings-idINDEE8560D720120607