Khalidiya Massacre

It was Saturday, February 4, 2012 when the horrible news broke of the worst massacre yet in Homs, or in Syria at all. Over 200 civilians were killed their homes when a clearly overblown or homicidal barrage of military shelling smashed them to pieces. Activists picked up the pieces and got a body count, and reported their explanation to the world. Mainstream Western Media reported at the time, when it mattered, the version told to them, as here, by the Guardian's Damien Pearse (with agencies):
 * More than 200 people have been killed by Syrian forces in the city of Homs, according to activists, as the UN security council prepares to vote on a draft resolution backing an Arab call for President Bashar al-Assad to resign. ... the attacks prompted western and Arab countries to step up their push for a UN resolution calling for Assad to go. ... the French foreign minister, Alain Juppe, said the Homs bloodshed was a crime against humanity and "those who block the adoption of such a resolution are taking a grave historical responsibility".
 * Death tolls cited by activists and opposition groups ranged from 217 to 260, making the Homs attack the deadliest so far in Assad's crackdown on protests that erupted 11 months ago in response to uprisings that overthrew three Arab leaders.

As arguably the biggest atrocity to date, almost four months before the Houla Massacre it sparked angry attacks on embassies, and also was exploited to influence a UN Security Council vote on Syria's future taking place that day. As Pearse's report noted, "It was not immediately clear what had prompted [or, rather, would prompt] Syrian forces to launch such an intense bombardment, just as diplomats at the security council were discussing the draft resolution supporting the Arab League demand for Assad to step aside." Framed either way, that mystery of motive is worth pondering.

The government would claim those killed were not civilians caught in their offensive against the armed and dug-in "terrorists" plaguing Syria's #3 city, but rather locals taken hostage by rebels. They were then executed and mutilated to look kind of like shelling victims to implicate the government, at whom they were angry over the effective campaign gradually pushing them out of Homs. This possibility will here be considered alongside the other narrative as we examine the evidence, first as usual on the talk page.