According to Syrian opposition sources, scores of people were killed on Thursday morning when the Syrian army and security forces along with pro-government militia known as Shabiha, attacked al-Treimseh near the city of Hama. Syrian state-run media have blamed “terrorist groups” for the killings.

UN mission chief Major General Robert Mood said today that UN observers are ready to go to Treimseh when a ceasefire is in place. He confirmed continuous fighting yesterday in the area of Treimseh, including the use of mechanized units, indirect fire and helicopters and said that observers were ready to go and seek verification of the facts if and when there was a credible ceasefire.

“The UN must be allowed unfettered access to investigate such incidents,” said Ann Harrison, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Deputy Programme Director. “Without an independent presence to investigate the facts, it is impossible to verify what really happened.”

“Nonetheless, we know that a pattern of abuses has been widely reported in many areas where government forces have indiscriminately shelled towns and villages, unlawfully killing civilians, followed by incursions by the shabiha militia who have killed not only opposition fighters, but also many civilians, mainly men and boys.

“The findings of our recent field investigations in Syria, verified this pattern. Amnesty International documented evidence of grave violations, including crimes against humanity and war crimes, committed by the Syrian army in towns and villages around Idlib, Aleppo, Jebel al-Zawiyah and Jebel al-Wastani areas.”

Amnesty International said that the resolution renewing the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) should explicitly include a strong and adequately staffed human rights component, providing the mission with sufficient expertise, including gender and children’s rights experts, and other resources to document and report on crimes against humanity, war crimes and other grave human rights abuses committed by all sides.

“UN human rights monitors should have a rapid reaction capability to investigate specific incidents and a permanent presence in cities outside Damascus,” said Harrison.

“The UN Security Council should also require UNSMIS to regularly and publicly publish its findings on human rights violations and provide the human rights component with the necessary capacity to do so.”

“The UN Security Council must refer the situation to the prosecutor of the ICC. It has been evident for months that crimes under international law are being committed on a mass scale. An ICC referral will make clear to all sides that those who order or carry out war crimes and crimes against humanity will be brought to justice,” said Ann Harrison.

U.N. observers in Syria said the attack on the village of Al-Treimseh, where about 220 people were killed,  was “an extension of the SAAF (Syrian Arab Air Force) operation,” according to a report from the U.N. mission, obtained by Reuters on Friday.According to the report, a patrol of unarmed UN military observers could get within only about 6 km of Al-Treimseh on Thursday before being stopped by air force commanders due to  ”military operations”. The patrol examined the situation from different locations around Al-Treimseh for about eight hours during which 
it heard more than 100 explosions, small arms and heavy machinegun fire. The U.N. observers saw one Mi-8 and two Mi-24 helicopters and witnessed one of the Mi-24 helicopters firing air-to-ground rockets, according to the report, Al Arabiya said.

“The operation in Al-Treimseh is assessed as an extension of the SAAF operation in Khan Sheikhoun to Souran over the recent number of days,” said the two-page report by the U.N.

“The situation in Hama province continues to be highly volatile and unpredictable. The Syrian air force continues to target populated urban areas north of Hama City in a large scale,” the report said.

Opposition sources said about 220 people, mostly civilians were killed in the village of Al-Treimseh when it was bombarded by helicopter gunships and tanks then stormed by armed men who slaughtered some families on Thursday. 
 The Syrian government said more than 50 people were killed when government forces clashed with “terrorists”

The killings could not be independently verified due to restriction of international media by the government.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton strongly condemned the killings in A-Treimseh and demanded that the Security Council take action to stop the violence. Russia, too,  condemned the  killings, but blamed “terrorists” opposed to Assad for the massacre.

“To stop this bloody madness which threatens the entity of Syria, as well as peace and the security in the region and in the world, requires an urgent and sharp resolution of the Security Council under Chapter VII (of the U.N. Charter) which protects the Syrian people,” the Syrian National Council (SNC) said according to Al Jazeera.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, more than 150 people have been killed during military operations and shelling on the town of Al-Treimseh in Hama. Only 30 names have been documented so far.

However  the Hama Revolutionary Council reported a higher death toll saying that  ”more than 220 people fell  in Treimseh”.

Reports can’t be independently confirmed.

Meanwhile, the Syria government didn’t make any statement on the incident but the Syrian television said three security personnel had been killed in fighting in the village and accused “terrorists” of committing a massacre there.

“Tens of terrorists overrun the village of al-Trimsa in Hama Countryside yesterday, killing or wounding tens of Syrian civilians,” state-run SANA reported.

Reports of the massacre came after U.N. Security Council ambassadors held their first talks on  Russian and Western draft resolutions on Syria, with Moscow opposing calls for sanctions against Assad’s regime.

No developments were reported, with the 300 member mandate for the UN mission to the conflict-torn country expiring on July 20.

If the accounts are confirmed, the Treimseh massacre would be the worst of its kind in the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad’s rule that began 16 months ago.