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Syrian Rebels under fire for 'war crimes' on villagers

witnesses said rebels went house to house executing entire families

Syrian rebel fighters killed at least 190 civilians and abducted more than 200 in an August offensive against pro-government villages, Human Rights Watch (HRW) have said.

The August 4 attacks on unarmed civilians in more than a dozen villages in Latakia province were systematic and could even amount to a crime against humanity, the watchdog said.

Witnesses said that rebels had gone house to house, either executing entire families or killing the men and taking women and children hostage, who they still hold.

The villagers belonged to the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam to which President Bashar al-Assad belongs.

HRW spokeswoman Lama Fakih said the rebel abuses in Latakia "certainly amounted to war crimes" and might constitute crimes against humanity.

HRW said more than 20 groups had participated in the offensive.

Five groups, including al-Qaida-linked Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, led the campaign, which appeared to have been funded by private donations raised in the Persian Gulf.

It appealed to the Gulf states to crack down on such money transfers and it also urged Turkey, which hosts a rear base for many of the rebel groups, to prosecute groups linked to war crimes and restrict the flow of weapons and fighters.

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