At least 79 dead in reported ‘execution-style’ killings near Damascus

At least 79 people — many of them young men killed “execution style,” according to activists — were found dead Saturday in Daraya, near Damascus, Reuters reported.

According to the report, which cited a statement by the Daraya Coordination Committee, the dead were killed by troops loyal to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, bringing the death toll in Daraya to 149 since government forces entered the area on Thursday.

Children and even entire families were said to be among the dead.

Elsewhere in Syria, activists reported clashes between rebels and government troops and well as shelling in several areas including the northern province of Aleppo, the district of Idlib, the eastern region of Deir el-Zour, and Daraa in the south.

State-run news agency SANA reported heavy clashes in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, saying that “many terrorists” were killed or wounded.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said clashes in the eastern town of al-Bukamal, which borders Iraq, were concentrated near an air defense base. Al-Bukamal is in the oil-rich province of Deir el-Zour.

The Observatory said 109 people were killed in Daraya alone over the past four days as a result of clashes and violence.

The Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, said army helicopter gunships attacked the town of Qusair in the central province of Homs.

Activists say that more than 20,000 people have been killed since the anti-Assad uprising began in March last year.