Gunmen kill more than 100 in Syrian village

BEIRUT -- Gunmen loyal to President Bashar Assad swept through a mainly Sunni farming village in central Syria this week, torching houses and killing more than 100 people, including women and children, opposition activists said yesterday.

The reported slayings fueled accusations that pro-government militiamen are trying to drive majority Sunnis out of areas near main routes to the coast to ensure control of an Alawite enclave as the country's civil war increasingly takes on sectarian overtones.

Activists said the attackers were from nearby areas dominated by Shia Muslims and allied Alawites. Assad and most of the top officials in his regime belong to the minority Alawite sect, a Shia offshoot.

The events in Haswiyeh, an impoverished farming area on the edge of Homs, unfolded on Tuesday and Wednesday, but only came to light yesterday as the reported scale of the killings became apparent.

An amateur video posted online showed veiled women sitting on the floor surrounded by children as they described a horrific scene of gunmen killing people and burning bodies.

"They slaughtered members of the same families then turned the diesel heaters on them," one of the women said, adding that some homes were robbed of money and jewelry as well. "We did not fight and we had no gunmen. We are all workers trying to make a living." Another video showed a charred room with what appeared to be two blackened bodies on the floor. A man could be heard weeping in the background.

The caption said the video is from Haswiyeh.