2012 Tremseh massacre The Tremseh massacre ( ) was led by the Syrian Army against the Free Syrian Army in Tremseh , Syria , in the late hours of 12 July 2012 during the Syrian civil war leading to a reported death of dozens of rebels , and an unknown number of civilians . On 14 July 2012 , the UN observer mission issued a statement , based on the investigation by its team that went to the town , that the Syrian military mainly targeted the homes of rebels and activists , in what the BBC said was a contradiction of the initial opposition claims of a civilian massacre . They said that the number of casualties was unclear and added that they intend to return to the town to continue their investigation . On 16 July 2012 , the Free Syrian Army backtracked on their initial death toll of 200 , saying it had been overblown because many of the wounded were counted as dead , and reduced the list of those confirmed killed to 68 - 103 names . But still , activist Abu Adnan , continued to claim 150 died , with the rest of the bodies allegedly being unidentifiable or stolen by the military during their assault . Events . A Syrian Army convoy was ambushed by rebels near Hama , which led to a counter - attack from the Syrian Army , and reports suggested government troops were trying to take back the town from rebel forces . According to opposition activists , Tremseh was surrounded by government tanks and artillery , after which , the Syrian military launched a full - scale attack against the opposition Free Syrian Army inside the town . Tanks entered Tremseh after forces had shelled the town continuously from 5 a . m . until noon . Syrian army forces , whose numbers were bolstered by the pro - government militias called " Shabeha " , accompanied the tanks into Tremseh . The opposition claimed that , as the government forces rained artillery rounds into the town , a number of village residents fled their houses into the streets , where many of them were shot dead by the government militias . Major General Robert Mood , head of the U . N . Supervision Mission in Syria , said in Damascus that a U . N . team had observed the fighting from three or four miles outside Tremseh , adding that it involved “ mechanized units , indirect fire as well as helicopters . ” According to sources close to the government , the attack on Tremseh was part of a larger offensive decided by the Syrian government , with the aim to crush all rebel resistance in the next two months . One police agent successfully infiltrated an Idlib armed group and was able to notify the military about the rebels who were gathering at Tremseh and preparing the convoy attack . The Local Coordination Committees in Hama and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the Syrian Army and the Shabiha , backed by tanks and attack helicopters , entered the town of Turaymisah , after a rebel withdrawal , and summarily executed over a hundred people . Initial reports put the death toll at more than 100 . Later reports said the death toll of the massacre to be between 220 and 250 , when over 150 dead bodies were found in the local mosque after Syrian army forces left . The people in the mosque , who tried to find shelter there , apparently died when the building was shelled and then collapsed on them . At one point , the LCC claimed a figure of 280 dead and 200 missing . A number of the dead were reportedly rebels , which was confirmed by the opposition group SOHR by stating that dozens of the dead were rebel fighters , including Lieutenant Ibrahim Zuait al - Tarkawai . Jaafar , a Sham News Network opposition activist , said that only seven civilians and 30 rebels were killed . This was in line with the military ' s claim of killing a " big number of terrorists " . SOHR put the overall death toll at 150 , with only 40 confirmed dead by name thus far . A villager who managed to escape the area said , on condition of anonymity , that Alawite militiamen entered after Syrian rebels retreated from the area and committed the massacre . The survivor said that houses and mosques were set ablaze by the government forces . The Syrian government denied responsibility , saying 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 terrorist 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 . " Kofi Annan , the UN special envoy , accused the Syrian government of using heavy weapons and helicopters in the village . Jihad Makdissi , spokesman for Syria ' s Foreign Ministry , denied that heavy weapons were used in the village and said the heaviest weapon used was an RPG . A local opposition member , Fadi Sameh , was quoted as saying , “ It appears that Alawite militiamen ( Shabiha ) from surrounding villages descended on Turaymisah after its rebel defenders pulled out , and started killing the people . Whole houses have been destroyed and burned from the shelling . " Another was quoted as saying , " Around 6 : 00 am of Thursday morning , Assad forces surrounded the village with heavy weaponry and tanks , more than 800 soldiers of Assad forces were in the mission , after couple of hours , they started arbitrary artillery shelling on the village . People fled their home to seek shelters in school and the mosque . Assad forces shelled the school and the mosque causing collapses in the buildings which resulted in tens of deaths . Shabiha from the surrounding villages came to support Assad forces and to kill more of the village people , which escalate the number of victims in this massacre . " The UN observer mission head , Robert Mood , said that the Syrian army was still conducting assaults with heavy weapons around the town the following day . By the evening of 13 July 2012 , the opposition Syrian National Council claimed a new total figure of 305 killed . However , at the same time , other opposition activists backed away from their earlier estimates of over 200 dead . One local activist stated that he had confirmed 74 deaths , but had only 20 names . Another provided a list of 103 names . Others also said the death toll may have been less but was certainly over 100 . A group of UN - observers had entered Tremseh on July 14 , 2012 with a convoy of around 11 vehicles on reconnaissance mission . According to a local activist in Hama province they inspected bombed places and where there were traces of blood . The UN observers found evidence of an attack , including a burned school , damaged houses , and proof that artillery , mortars and small arms were used according spokeswoman for the head of the U . N . Supervising Mission in Syria , Sausan Ghosheh . " The attack . . . appeared targeted at specific groups and houses , mainly of army defectors and activists . There were pools of blood and blood spatters in rooms of several homes together with bullet cases , " Ghosheh said in a statement . On the same day the head of the UN monitoring mission , Major General Robert Mood , told reporters in Damascus that a group of observers , deployed few kilometres from Tremseh , confirmed the use of heavy weaponry and attack helicopters in Tremseh and thereby implicated the Syrian government according to Al Jazeera . On 14 July 2012 , the facts over the event remained unclear with new details emerging that would indicate that what was called a massacre was more of a battle between the military and opposition fighters that ended in a defeat for the rebels . Videos , televised confessions of captured fighters and reports from non - local activists backed up this version . The videos of the victims that have emerged showed mostly young men of fighting age . Another video was said to show a group of rebel reinforcements heading to Tremseh , all of them armed young men in civilian clothes . A team of UN observers was sent to the town to investigate . It was pointed out that while previous massacres were usually followed by long lists of names and videos of killed civilians emerging at the same time , as well as corroboration by UN observers who would fault the Syrian Army , this was not so in this case . Some opposition groups still claimed a large number of civilian deaths happened while others put the death toll at far less and stated most were rebels . The opposition activist group SOHR stated that it had been able to confirm only 103 deaths , 90 percent of them young men , and the group ' s director , Rami Abdul - Rahman , said that the majority of people killed in Tremseh were either rebel fighters from the town or from surrounding towns . Later , he was more precise , stating that at least 50 rebels were killed . The opposition activist group VDC confirmed , by this point , the names of only 63 people to have been killed . Late on 14 July , the UN observer mission issued a statement , based on the investigation by its team that went to the town , that the Syrian military mainly targeted the homes of rebels and activists contradicting claims of a civilian massacre . Opposition activists gave a new revised figure of 103 to 152 dead but stated they were expecting the number to rise because , according to them , hundreds of people were unaccounted for and locals believed many bodies remained in the fields that were close to army checkpoints or were disposed of into the Orontes River . The UN observers could not immediately determine the total number of casualties and announced they would return to the area the next day to further investigate . On 15 July , the government stated that 37 of the dead were rebels and only two were civilians . Syrian foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi told a news conference in Damascus that no helicopters , aircraft or armoured tanks were used in the attack - only troop carriers and small arms , including rocket - propelled grenades . " It was not a massacre but a response by regular military forces against heavily armed groups that do not want a political solution , " Mr Makdissi said . Meanwhile the International Committee of the Red Cross declared it sees the fighting in Syria as a " non - international armed conflict " , which is the technical term for civil war . This would have the effect that , from that point on , all those fighting in Syria are officially subject to the Geneva Conventions and could end up at a war crimes tribunal if they disobeyed them . On 16 July , rebels gave a revised death toll of approximately 150 . They said higher numbers in the past were because of mistakingly counting the wounded as dead , and that only 68 bodies were present due to others being " stolen " by the Syrian army . By Sunday they had the names of 103 of those who died , and about 30 of the bodies were too badly burnt to be identified . 5 children and 1 woman were amongst those killed , the rest were all males . Free Syrian Army ( FSA ) leader , Saleh al - Subaai , was also confirmed killed in the battle .