Douma Massacre (late October)

This incident occurred on the night of October 23, 2012, in the northeast Damascus suburb of Douma. A residential building was raided by disputed parties, and at least 25 men, women, and children were brutally executed.

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Reuters reported on the incident early the following day:
 * Opposition activists and Syrian state media traded blame on Wednesday for the killing of at least 25 people, including women and children, in the town of Douma near Damascus. "There was a horrible massacre in Douma last night," the media office of the opposition network in Douma said in a statement. "More than 20 civilians have been slaughtered by (pro-government militia) shabiha who were at a checkpoint and then stormed into a residential building nearby."

A Douma-based activist named Mahmoud Doumany, told Reuters "that he had the names of 20 of the dead but that 10 were too disfigured to be identified. "People now are scared and very angry. Some of the martyrs were killed with knives, others were shot," he told Reuters."


 * Opposition video showed images of corpses wrapped in blankets and of the bodies of women and children, one of whom had a hole in his head and another had part of his face missing. "God is great," said a man off screen, his voice trembling as he walked around the house, filming bodies on several floors of a residential building.

Douma has seen clashes and massacres and complete loss of government control in the past. In late June, a government re-conquest was accompanied by [|a less clear spate of killings] on the streets, in a hospital, and inside homes. In mid-August, a rebel militia from neighboring Harasta abducted numerous apparently loyalist men, making videos with them as captives. [|16 of these] soon turned up dead and dumped, their throats sliced, allegedly, by Assad loyalists.

The government claims Douma was, as of October 23, rebel-held, outside their control.
 * ''Syrian state television said 25 people had been killed by "terrorist members of the so-called 'Liwa al-Islam.'" State media labels opposition members as "terrorists." The Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the Syrian army was not present in the area.""