HRW talks about 150 bodies recovered from river in Syria

According to AFP, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on June 4 that the bodies of 147 people pulled from a river in Aleppo between January and March "may have" been executed in government-controlled areas of this main northern Syrian city.

Syrian soldiers during a campaign in Qusayr on May 20. (Source: AFP/VNA)

HRW, based in New York City, said the organization traveled to the war-torn city of Aleppo, interviewing a forensic expert, 18 families of victims, local residents and activists who discovered the bodies, all of whom were men aged between 11 and 64.

HRW also reviewed 350 photos and videos of the victims.

"Many of the victims showed signs of having been detained and then executed, including having their hands tied behind their backs, gunshot wounds to the head, and duct tape around their mouths," the HRW report said.

HRW also said that while the organization has not yet completed its investigation into who carried out the killings, where the bodies were found and the victims' alleged last known locations could indicate that they were killed in areas controlled by the Syrian government.

On the same day, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that artillery shells exploded near the Russian Embassy in the capital Damascus, killing one civilian and injuring one security force officer.

The Russian embassy has been the target of rocket and artillery fire by rebel forces several times, but the June 4 explosion was the closest to the embassy./.

According to (Vietnam+) - DT