Darayya massacre The Darayya massacre ( ) was a reported massacre that happenened between 20 and 25 August 2012 in the town of Darayya in the Rif Dimashq province of Syria , during the Syrian civil war . Background . From the start of the conflict , the city of Darayya outside Damascus had been a hotspot for protesters against the government . When hundreds were arrested , locals took up arms . Two months before the massacre , the police and state intelligence had withdrew from the town . Soon after , 3 , 000 FSA fighters made Darayya their stronghold . They held a strategic position , situated on the edge of the military airport at Mezze , which was being used for air - strikes against rebel - held areas . Rebels and local residents reported opposition forces conducted mortar and rocket strikes against the base from Darayya . Also , a few days before the government attack , the rebels claimed to have killed 30 soldiers when they attacked a military checkpoint outside the town . According to local residents ' account , the attack on the town started after talks for a prisoner swap between the rebels and the military had failed . Events . On 25 August , the bodies of 200 people were reportedly discovered in the town . Most of the dead appeared to be the result of executions . SOHR reported that the death toll had thus reached 270 killed during the four - day attack on Daraya , including women , children and rebels . 40 – 50 of the day ' s corpses had been discovered near a mosque . 80 of the dead had been identified as civilians , while 120 remained unidentified . An activist inside the town said he had seen a young 8 - year old girl shot dead by army sniper fire . Residents said that government troops and Shabiha militiamen raided some streets " two or three times " . In several instances , they demanded hospitality when entering people ' s homes and then killing their hosts after leaving . Opposition groups said that after the FSA fighters left the city , soldiers accompanied by shabiha militia members stormed in , raiding homes and arresting many , taking prisoners to the basements of empty buildings where they were shot execution - style , according to opposition accounts . Dozens were killed in Moadamyeh al - Sham , another Damascus suburb , the opposition said . The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group said that 320 people were killed . The offensive against the town reportedly started with the military first surrounding Daraya , thus preventing civilians from escaping , then followed by several days of shelling and ending with house - to - house searches which resulted in executions . A video of what activists described as the fifth and latest mass grave to be filled showed two small children near the edge . One resident said , “ The Assad forces killed them in cold blood . . . I saw dozens of dead people , killed by the knives at the end of Kalashnikovs , or by gunfire . The regime finished off whole families , a father , mother and their children . They just killed them without any pretext . ” On 29 August , journalist Robert Fisk , of " The Independent " , entered the town and spoke with local residents , some out of earshot of Syrian officials . The residents gave accounts that differed from what was being reported in the media . Some stated that it was the FSA fighters that committed at least some of the killings , the dead being off - duty soldiers or pro - government civilians . They also stated that their homes had been overtaken by rebels and in some cases demolished . Others said they were not sure who was responsible for the killings . Aftermath . After the killings , government forces withdrew to the towns outskirts and remaining residents were able to search the town thoroughly , finding 120 bodies in one basement . Even pro - government TV aired footage of dead people , including women and children claiming " terrorists " as behind the killings . An opposition activist said that the army returned to some Dariya neighborhoods on 27 August and raided them , leading to the deaths of additional residents . A shopkeeper in the city said that " We found more than 100 dead bodies in the Abu Suleiman Derane mosque and gathered around 200 from homes and the streets to bury them in a mass grave today because the town ’ s graveyard is already full , the regime killed whole families from Daraya to punish us , " he added . A GlobalPost reporter described Daraya as a city of “ ghosts and dead bodies . ” Reactions . – Secretary - General Ban Ki - moon , stated the killings were " an appalling and brutal crime " and called for an immediate independent investigation . Navi Pillay said that she was " deeply shocked by the reports of the massacre in Daraya " and urged " an immediate and thorough investigation into this incident " whilst criticising the Syrian government for its use of heavy weapons , indiscriminate shelling and its reported bulldozing of houses , cautioning that these actions " may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity " .