Al Shari’a village administratively follows al Ghab area in Homs governorate. The village is located approximately five kilometers to the west of the ancient city of Afamia, with an area of approximately 125-hectar. The city’s population is approximately 13,000, and most of its residents works in agricultural. The village is known for cultivating wheat, cotton, sugar beet, and various kinds of vegetables in addition to livestock.
On Tuesday, a number of al Shari’a village residents were leaving the town mosque. As they were at the mosque door, a group of Shabiha, accompanied by the Syrian army forces who were at the town checkpoint, opened fire suddenly and randomly, killing 16 citizens of the town residents in a matter of seconds. Additionally, others were wounded.
SNHR has warned times and times again that the repeated occurrence of such incidents will trigger retaliatory acts that might be unable to be contained. The Syrian regime is primary responsible for this, followed by the international community who has failed to deter the tyrannous killer, and even, in soy many cases, turned a blind eye to the killing. These massacres will affect civil peace and co-existence.
Through contacting residents and victims’ families, we have been able to document the names and obtain videos for the victims. Please be aware that some of the videos contain raw and gory imagery, including footage of children crying over the dead bodies of their parents