Bayda and Baniyas massacres The Bayda and Baniyas massacres were two widely reported on massacres that occurred in May 2013 in the village of Bayda and the city of Baniyas , in Tartus Governorate , Syria , where pro - Assad troops , supported by paramilitaries , killed civilians in the Sunni village and the Sunni part of the city . The killings were supposedly in retaliation for an earlier rebel attack near the town that left at least half a dozen soldiers dead . There were reports of whole families being killed in the two massacres 2 – 3 May , and thousands were attempting to flee the area . At least 100 people were killed , while others say that number exceeds 400 . Human Rights Watch put the number of dead at 248 in mass summary executions . According to a UN report between 300 and 450 people were killed . Survivors have testified that it was regular troops , backed by the paramilitary National Defence Force ( NDF ) , that entered the village and began " a murderous attack : burning , looting and killing " . Events . Soldiers killed . Early on 2 May 2013 , rebels fought with government troops near Bayda . Activists said a bus carrying pro - government militants , known as Shabiha , was attacked , killing seven and wounding 20 - 30 . Syrian forces and Shabiha militiamen from the surrounding area returned in the afternoon and stormed the village . Village raided . Syrian troops backed by the pro - government gunmen swept into the village in the mountains near the Mediterranean coast killing dozens of people , including women and children , and torching homes . Before the militia entered the village , the military bombarded Bayda from the sea with rockets . The UK - based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that at least 50 people – and possibly as many as 100 – were killed in the violence . Witnesses said some of the dead were killed with knives or blunt objects and that dozens of villagers were still missing . Later , SOHR stated they were able to document the deaths of 51 people . Another activist report documented 72 deaths . Opposition activists said that , although Bayda was rebel - held , only 14 rebel fighters were in the village . One opposition activist stated that the attack was in fact retaliation for another attack in a neighbouring area four days previously that had resulted in the death of several soldiers . Victims included Bayda ' s former village imam of 30 years , Sheikh Biyasi , " a government loyalist who alienated local people with his political views before resigning two years ago . " The Biyasi family was described by Reuters as suffering " some of the worst losses , with 36 documented deaths " . Baniyas massacre . On 3 May , another massacre was , according to SOHR , perpetrated in the Ras al - Nabaa district of Baniyas causing hundreds of Sunni residents to flee their homes . According to one opposition report , a total of 77 civilians , including 14 children , were killed . Another two opposition groups documented , by name , 96 - 145 people who are thought to have been executed in the district . Four pro - government militiamen and two soldiers were also killed in the area in clashes with rebel fighters . State media , for its part , stated their forces were seeking only to clear the area of " terrorists " . Mihrac Ural , a pro - government militia commander spoke of the necessity to besiege and " cleanse " Baniyas from what he called " traitors " . In all , the military claimed that they killed 40 " terrorists " in Bayda and Baniyas .