A young man describes how his town became the latest horrific headline to emerge from Syria.
Mohammad, a 20-year-old from a small village in Hama province, left for work on Wednesday morning not knowing that he would find most residents of his town dead when he returned.
When Mohammad came back to his house that night, he found the burned corpses of his mother, father, two sisters and one brother on the floor of his charred home.
"I lost all my family members, with the exception of my grandfather. I found him in his home unconscious. His house was partially destroyed from the shelling," Mohammad told Al Jazeera.
The reported massacre of at least 70 people in al-Qubayr was the second mass killing to emerge from Syria in less than two weeks, following the apparent murder of around 100 civilians in the town of Houla in Homs province.
Mohammad and opposition activists blamed government-backed militia, known as shabiha, for killing the residents of al-Qubayr and burning their houses afterwards. The Syrian government has said "terrorists" are responsible.
Mohammad's grandfather, who was transferred to nearby hospital, told him that supporters of President Bashar al-Assad from the nearby towns of Tal Sikkeen and Aseelah had attacked him.
"I usually return home at 4pm, but there was heavy shelling in the area, so I stayed out until 8:30pm. When I returned, I saw what I saw," he said.
“My grandfather was beaten on his head with a heavy object. They did not know he was still alive. If they knew they would have killed him too.”
Heavy shelling on Wednesday reportedly targeted the villages of Jerjees and Maarzaf, where activists told Al Jazeera they suspected the army was trying to quell opposition fighters. Al-Qubayr, with a population of around 150 people, was close enough to take some of the artillery fire as well.
“After the shelling, the army withdrew and shabiha entered the town and slaughtered people,” Mohammad said.
Tal Sikkeen and Aseelah, where activists claimed the shabiha came from, are inhabited mainly by members of the Alawite sect, the offshoot of Shia to which Assad's family and many high-ranking government officials belong.
Al-Qubayr is a town inhabited mainly by Sunni Muslims, and Mousab al-Hamadee, an activist in Hama, said he believed the acts of the shabiha were motivated by sectarian feelings.
"The shabiha took advantage of the fact that this town is remote and isolated to attack it," he said.
SANA, the state news agency, said only that nine people were killed in "cold blood". Hamadee put the death toll at 78.
The figures remained unverified, as UN observers sent to al-Qubayr were stopped and turned away at Syrian army checkpoints on Thursday. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said some of the observers had come under small arms fire, while the UN commander on the ground said others had been warned that their safety was at risk if they came to the area.
Mohammad said he had no idea why his town was targeted.
“There are no armed resistance fighters in Qubayr. Residents of this town did not participate in anti-government protests,” he told Al Jazeera. “We are farmers. My dad grew wheat. We had nothing to do with politics.”
Mohammad has left and is now staying at his friend’s house in a nearby village. He said he would not return.
“What town?" he asked. "There is no town anymore."
PHOTO CAPTION
This image made from amateur video released by Shaam News Network and accessed Friday, June 8, 2012, purports to show explosions in the Khaldiyeh area of Homs, Syria.
Source: Aljazeera.net