Syrian Arab News Agency
The Syrian government denied responsibility for killing civilians, instead claiming that the massacre was perpetrated by "armed gangs" and that three members of the security forces were killed fighting them. The government also gave a lower figure of 50 civilians being killed. The Syrian government subsequently retracted the claim and denied that any civilians died at all, saying that they "had carried out a special operation against rebel forces killing many rebels and capturing dozens of others," adding that no civilians were killed. According to the Syrian government, residents called security forces for help after the "terrorist groups" raided the neighborhood. The security forces then arrested some of the members of the rebel groups and confiscated their weapons. A military source quoted by the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency said an operation by armed forces destroyed "terrorists' dens," killed many of the people they found there, and led to the arrests of scores more." The account added, "Armed forces successfully dealt with the terrorists without casualties taking place among the citizens. They searched into the terrorists' dens where they found the dead bodies of a number of citizens who had been abducted and killed by the terrorist groups."