Assad's Forces 'Kill Over 200 In Syrian Town'

The bodies of more than 200 people, including women and children, have been found in a town close to Damascus after being killed by Syrian troops, according to opposition activists.

They said most of the victims were discovered in houses and basements of buildings in Daraya and had been shot by President Bashar al Assad's forces conducting house-to-house raids.

Pictures of Syrian army tanks said to be taken in the town also emerged.

Pro-government television has blamed terrorists for the attacks.

The official state news agency said: "Our heroic armed forces cleansed Daraya from remnants of armed terrorist groups who committed crimes against the sons of the town."

Opposition activist Abu Kinan said: "Assad's army has committed a massacre in Daraya."

Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt said if confirmed, the massacre "would be an atrocity on a new scale requiring unequivocal condemnation from the entire international community".

He added that it "highlights the urgent need for international action to bring an end to the violence, end this culture of impunity and hold to account those responsible for these terrible acts".

The Daraya Coordination Committee activists' group said in a statement that among those found with shots to the head were eight members of the al Qassaa family: three children, their father and mother and three other relatives.

Their bodies were found in a residential building near Mussab bin Umeir mosque in Daraya, the group said.

Due to restrictions on non-state media, it is impossible to independently verify the accounts.

Video released by activists showed numerous bodies of young men side-by-side at the Abu Suleiman al Darani mosque in Daraya, many with what looked like gunshot wounds to the head and chest.

"A massacre," said the voice of the man who appeared to be taking the footage.

"You are seeing the revenge of Assad's forces from the people of Daraya: more than 150 bodies on the floor of this mosque."

Mohammad Hur, another activist in the town, said 36 bodies of young men were found in the morning in one building, along with several badly wounded people who could not be transferred to hospitals in the area because the army had occupied them.

"We are in the process of identifying the bodies and documenting how they died. Initial evidence shows that they were mostly shot at close range in the face, neck and head, execution style," he said.

The army overran Daraya, one of a series of large, mostly run-down Sunni Muslim towns that surround Damascus, on Saturday after three days of heavy bombardment that killed around 70 people.

The attack was part of an army campaign to regain control of the outskirts of the capital, a mixture of built up areas and farmland where rebels had regrouped and relaunched guerrilla attacks on Mr Assad's forces.

Meanwhile, Sky's Foreign Affairs Editor has confirmed that Syrian Vice President Farouk al Sharaa has not defected from the Assad government.

Tim Marshall spoke to Mr Sharaa in the Syrian capital and wrote on Twitter: "I am with the Syria Vice President. In Damascus. He has not defected."

Officials had been forced to issue repeated denials amid rumours that Mr Sharaa - the most senior Sunni Muslim in the Damascus regime - had joined the opposition.